Old High Tension
by gozita2003
Summary: Aino Minako is a Navy commander, determined to take down the pirate that is Hino Rei. Rei is just trying to live her life and Makoto and Ami are there for the ride. However, more is going on than any of them bargain for. [Remade under High Tension. Please check profile]
1. Chance

Aino Minako considered herself a pretty damn good Navy commander. She had been eradicating pirates left and right from the seas, allowing for easier and safer travel for merchants and messengers of Queen Serenity. However, there was one thing that would cause her to grind her teeth in frustration if you brought it up: the pirate Hino Rei.

Minako had spent the past six months trying to track this infamous pirate down. She had gone down the coast lines, out in the middle of the ocean, inspected ports for days at a time with no luck. All she got were stories and rumors of a woman pirate who had long black hair and eyes that could pierce your soul.

"Commander."

Turning around, Minako was met face to face with her second in command Ace. Honestly, she found the man exasperating because he was always hitting on her and trying to get in her bed.

"What is it, Ace?" She didn't bother to hide the annoyance in her voice at seeing him.

"There's a fight up ahead with a merchant ship and some pirates. Should we intervene or wait for them to duke it out?"

Minako went stiff and rigid. A merchant ship? There shouldn't have been one all the way out here, there no ports anywhere nearby for efficient trading and it was a route that was usually avoided because of the excessive number of pirates.

"We're going in. Merchants aren't well armed enough to deal with pirates. They must be in some pretty serious trouble if they're all the way out here." Moving, she pulled on her belt that held her scimitar on one side and gun on the other. "Get close enough that we can board, but try to stay far enough away that our ship doesn't get hit by any random fire from the pirates."

"Sir!" With a tap to his forehead, Ace left and the ship changed its course and worked its way towards the fight. Minako moved up above deck to inspect the scene before she had a realization at watching the fight. Merchant ships were not armed with that many cannons.

"STOP!" She turned to the navigator but it was too late. They were already on the fight and she had to grit her teeth. Pirates pretending to be merchants, of course. It was rather intelligent, she gave them that one. However, it was almost…too intelligent for a normal set of pirates who believed in showing their cross and skull flags and blood soaked ships.

Once the ship was close enough to the fray, it was almost immediately hit by a stray cannonball that sent it rocking. Minako had to pray that she didn't go down because of a stray cannonball striking her on her own deck. With that thought in mind, she moved her men to action.

"Take whatever you can alive! If it's too threatening for your own life, then kill them, but keep as many alive as you can!" A firm believer in keeping as many alive for trial as he should, Minako had a policy that involved killing as few as possible. It also meant much less paperwork when she had to account for dead bodies.

She watched as her men boarded the ship that fit more of the bill of a pirate ship, where plenty of hand to hand combat was already ensuing between the two ships and followed suit. Never one to just jump into a fray, she assessed the situation before her. It was clear to tell who was a pirate from the ship that didn't seem to be a merchant. They were filthy, covered in hair that hadn't been shaved, and the clothes looked more like rags than anything else. It caused a frown to tug at the edge of Minako's mouth. They didn't make for very good fighters it seemed.

That was, until she analyzed the so called "merchant" ship crew. They were as clean as one could really get out at sea, but none of them seemed...brash or really threatening. She watched as some rather tall pirate proceeded to clock another in the face and knock him straight out. The man didn't even have his sword or gun drawn for Serenity's sake.

"Ace."

"Sir?"

"Did you catch the name of that merchant ship by chance when we came up? You know. The one that blasted us when I told you to keep us far away enough so it wouldn't happen." Her eyes darted to him, slightly narrowed. She was pissed about the hole in the side of her ship, that was clear.

Ace fumbled a bit before he could answer at the look he got. "I-uh…Sniper or something."

" _Sniper?_ " Minako snorted a little. "Yeah real original merchant ship name. Look I'm going to find a Captain and kick some ass a little to let some steam off. Keep an eye on the men."

"Yes, sir." Ace nodded and stepped back as Minako drew her sword out, the sun glinting off the polished surface of her scimitar. She wasn't really one for violence, but once in a while she needed to vent off her frustrations and a hole in the side of her ship fit that bill pretty damn well.

There was always a certain look a Captain held if they were a pirate. Tricorn hat, typical of course. Long coat with some shitty tunic under it that looked torn to shreds. Sometimes she wondered if they ever bothered to read fashion magazines when they hit a port or at least look at the current style. Needless to say, grizzly and dirty was not in at the moment.

As her thoughts trailed off through her walking around on going fights, she nearly ran into someone who had just taken a pirate down. When she looked up with a frown, hand griping her sword, she had to do a double take.

Right in front of her was a woman with a tricorn hat on, but she most certainly did not have the long coat or shitty tunic. She almost looked pristine and clean outside of some gunpowder on her hands and the front of her shirt. None of this, however, is what caught Minako's attention. It was the long black hair and deep violet eyes that stared back at her that caused her to come to a complete halt as her brain temporarily shut down.

If rumors were to be believed, this woman was the pirate she had spent _months_ hunting down. And god did the phrase "eyes that could pierce your soul" become very real. She felt like suddenly every single secret she knew was being laid out in front of her just to shame her. It took a hand reaching for her collar for her to snap out of her daze and immediately take a step back and swing her sword in defense.

"God. All you Navy people want to do is cut a damn limb off." The woman grumbled as she held up the short sword she had just taken the man at her feet down with, which looked like it had been very well kept, which probably meant it was sharp enough to slice skin with little to no effort.

The retort came out before she could stop it. "All us Navy people want to do is make the waters safe to travel from heathens like you!"

"….Heathens? Well…I guess that's a new one." Her eyes trailed over to the ship and caught the name and she frowned. "You must be the commander."

If Minako was shocked, she didn't know it at this bit of information. "And if I am?"

"You'd be wise to get your little shitty crew back together and leave before someone dies."

There were a number of insults that were just thrown at her and Minako knew it showed on her face. Shitty crew? Dies? What kind of asshole…As if that wasn't offensive enough, the woman shook her head and put her sword back away and started to walk away. Did she seriously find Minako not a challenge? Oh hell no.

Stepping forward she brought her sword forward towards the back of the girls shoulder, intending on wounding her enough to hinder her ability to even wield her sword. In the moment she blinked, the short sword was against her own, pressing back. What the hell just happened?

"Perhaps you'd be wise…" Minako started, pushing hard, "to just give yourself over, Hino Rei."

Well if that was the woman's name, she didn't really react to it. All she did was draw her sword back before swinging it right back at Minako, full force. The jarring of the metal meeting felt uncomfortable as they started to face off against each other. It almost seemed like the woman was just toying with her, wasting time. She really was putting no effort into this and that made Minako grind her teeth. She was going to need some dentures if she kept doing that today, she realized.

Suddenly the woman paused with wide eyes and dropped her sword down, allowing Minako's sword to slice the skin at her left shoulder deep enough to spill a decent amount of blood. Confused, she stumbled back until she was grabbed and shoved into another direction behind the woman. Before she could turn around to ask what the fuck was going on, there was a loud explosion and Minako was sent flying forward and everything went black.

* * *

I am writing this story in my free time around school and work! (And at this time, a hurricane). I want to give a big shoutout to PD for encouraging this to happen and helping give me awful ideas.


	2. The Giant

It's often said that pain is your best friend because pain means you're alive. And Serenity if the throbbing of her head was any indication, she was very much alive. Minako tried to open her eyes but they watered immediately and she had to squeeze them shut to block out any form of light coming in through the window she was next to. It felt like someone had smashed her head into a brick wall.

Cautiously, she raised a hand up to her head and felt a layer of bandages wrapped around her head. Well that would explain the pain, but not what in the hell had caused in the first place. She wracked her brain to work, which throbbed with every thought. As soon as she recalled what had occurred she gasped and sat up, much too fast and found herself nauseous from the sudden movement.

"She's up!"

Whoever that was, it did not sound like anyone from her crew and she swallowed the urge to vomit on the spot and opened her eyes to see where the hell she was. Suddenly, the pain in her head was not her main concern, it was the giant coming towards her direction. She noted the two guns on her sides and the two-handed sword strapped across her back.

More panic set in as Minako reached for her own sword to find her belt absent and she moved back until she was against the wall, hissing in pain as her head made hard contact. Reaching up, she gently held it as the pain intensified for several agonizing moments.

"Mako, don't scare her." This voice was more tender, but if there was a giant in front of her, Serenity knows who it was behind her.

"I didn't do anything though!" The giant, apparently named Mako, huffed out.

"You're carrying all that stuff on you still. That's pretty terrifying you idiot." That voice was familiar and was followed by a weak noise of protest.

"I told you to be quiet or it was going to hurt."

The giant—Mako, moved out of the way and she looked over to see Rei laid out on a bed and the towels she was laying were had changed to a blood red color where her injured shoulder was laying at and her eyes widened. There was that shove and then a loud noise and…

"What the hell.." Minako swallowed again, her throat dry. "What happened? What's going on?" Her eyes darted around to realize this wasn't even her ship. Great, captive to pirates. Much less the pirates she had spent half a year trying to eliminate under direct orders.

"Well...Rei only really knows and she isn't allowed to talk."

Rei went to retort and she was immediately shoved down by the giant as the smaller girl, she finally noticed, ordered her to.

"Makoto I swear if you do not—OW!"

"This is going to hurt." The smaller girl set a piece of blood soaked wood to the side. Clearly she had been pierced by it and it went in pretty deep. That meant that…she had shoved her out of the way from whatever caused the explosion and gotten hit pretty badly? What kind of pirate…

"Ami maybe you should be a little less rough with her. She's just gonna be mad at us later and I don't wanna scrub the deck again." Mako…Makoto, whatever her name was clearly didn't want to set Rei off.

"Maybe I would have to be less rough if she would cooperate more. I'm almost done with the stitches now, but if she's wise…" Her eyes cut up to Rei's. "She will do minimal movement and stay on bed rest for the next day or two." Rei was quick to return the look before it was replaced by a grimace of pain and a gasping breath.

Minako, to say the least, was really dumbfounded. She was on a ship with pirates, one of which had saved her life as she tried to hack her head off, and wasn't even bound? Granted her throbbing head limited any quick movements and she had none of her weapons on her. A reach down to her boot confirmed the missing blade there too. She licked her dry lips.

"Here." She looked up to see Makoto holding a glass out to her. She raised her hand to take and then hesitated. "If we were gonna kill you, it would not be with water, I promise you that."

The girl had a point, she was already unconscious for an unknown period of time and she was shoved out of the way of an explosion. She decided it was wiser to take the glass and downed it, pleased for them at least knowing freshwater over salt water was better. "Where..what…"

"Well…All I know is we had to get off the enemy ship. It was sinking quickly after a few blows so I had to grab Rei and then go back for you 'cause she told me to."

"Sinking quickly? You were too close to sink it that quickly."

"We didn't sink it. I think your ship did."

Minako blinked at that a few times. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah. You were far enough away to aim your cannons low enough to—"

"Mako, she has a headache, tell her later." The smaller girl, with blue hair and eyes to match was walking over to her as she dried her hands off. "You had a concussion and I couldn't get you to wake up." With no room for privacy, the tiny girl invaded Minako's space and held her still as she looked at her eyes. "You're still showing effects of it. It's best you try and stay awake for the time being until I can determine it's safe without the risk of any further brain swelling."

"I—" What the hell was even going on? "Why am I not in a brig?"

Makoto pointed at Rei who was slowly sitting up which earned a heavy look from the smaller girl.

"Honestly, you were unconscious to begin with so you weren't going to do any damage. On top of that, Makoto would be quick enough to take you down with you unarmed."

"I beg your pardon?" That just served to really piss Minako off. She was a Navy commander, combat with or without a sword was something she was very skilled in.

"Oh. She didn't mean to offend you, it's just…well I'm pretty strong." She flexed her arm and showed off that she wasn't lying. Honestly, that just terrified Minako more about the girl. "Anyways, we didn't get your name, sorry."

"I..uh.." Did she give her real name?

"Aino Minako."

Minako turned her at that one. "How do you know if that's my name or not?"

"Because you're the only Navy commander who has been specifically targeting to get to me." Rei moved to lay back down when breathing became too hard while sitting up. "Can we at least get rid of these stupid towels now, Ami?"

Well at least she was getting names to go with everyone. "Why did you shove me out of the way? Clearly I'm a nuisance to you."

"Because you weren't a pirate. And honestly, at this point.." She grunted as the towels were carefully removed from under her. "You should be more concerned with who has your ship."

Panic started to set in at that. If pirates got ahold of her ship she would become the most shameful Navy commander to exist. "Pirates got my ship!?"

"No. Your crew was a touch more smart than that…Some guy with white hair had it turn and fire on us. What an idiot to do that." Rei looked over at her and was suddenly aware of how angry she had made Minako with this information.

"I'm sorry. I must have misheard you.." She smiled a little, as if trying to polite through her anger. "Did you say white haired idiot?"

"Yes. The only one I saw with hair that color."

There was a ripping noise as Minako pulled on the sheet she was gripping in between her hands. "I'm going to murder him. Get me off your ship right now."

"No."

"Excuse me? I didn't ask. I told you to get me off your ship." Regardless of if she was with pirates or not, she had just been thrown off her own ship by Ace and needed to put his ass right back into place if she didn't kill him first.

"And I told you no. My word is final." Rei glared at her as Ami stepped into her view to give her some medicine to take.

"Both of you stop it. Rei you're too injured for this and Minako, you shouldn't let your blood pressure get any higher while dealing with a concussion. Makoto, move Rei to her room."

"Yes ma'am." Makoto moved and carefully picked Rei up, who had a fit at having to be carried out of the room and Minako turned her glare to Ami.

"You will let me off this ship."

"I believe the Captain told you no." Ami turned to look at her with a critical eye. "And if you didn't have a concussion, I wouldn't hesitate to knock you back out. Even if you leave this room, no one is going to help you leave. We're in the middle of the ocean to being with. With a person in a good condition and stocked with fresh water and food, would still take over a month to reach a shore from this point in a rowboat. Even the ship would take a solid three days before it reached a port. So what you're going to do is stay put and stop harassing the Captain while she's hurt." That last part was most certainly a threat. "Or I'm going to have Makoto make sure you stay put."

Great, threatened with the giant girl. "Have your way, but you and the freak giant stay away from me." She blinked and suddenly Ami was in her face with a look that would kill if it were possible. It could kill miles away.

"You will be kind to Makoto and you will not insult her. You will respect our Captain and we will respect you. If I hear you talking bad about Makoto again, this concussion—" She pressed into the side of the head Minako had been hit on to remind her of the insanely throbbing pain. "Will be the very least of your concerns. Are we clear?"

Minako didn't answer her, just leveled her with a watery glare as she put a hand up to her head. Ami must have taken it as an answer because she stood up and prepared to walk out of the room. Minako just couldn't hold her tongue any further.

"I'm sure you're so concerned about your Captain when in realize you're going to go get off thinking of that…" She paused for a moment. "Her." She wasn't taking a chance on her head suffering any further.

"No, there you would be wrong. I'm going to check in on the Captain, then once I'm sure she isn't going to further harm herself, I will go see Makoto and then I'm probably going to destress by sleeping with her." With that, Ami left a stunned Minako alone.


	3. Analysis

The good thing about being stuck on a merchant ship run by pirates is that it meant you were in a place that wasn't falling apart. Minako knew this as she slowly moved to sit on the edge of the bed and determine what other injuries she had suffered in whatever explosion had taken place. Her head was still throbbing, that was for sure. Obviously Ami had not been joking about her having a concussion, though the pressure she had applied only made it worse for the time being.

However, as a commander, she didn't have time to worry about that. She noted that her upper left arm was wrapped up, though she didn't see any blood soaking which probably meant it was some scratches from the wood of the ship from when she was pushed down.

"Couldn't she have thrown me more gently? Serenity, I'm the only good looking commander out there right now." Well, was she even one now that Ace had stolen her ship? Had her entire crew undergone a mutiny? Minako frowned at that thought. She was nice, she thought, to her crew. Maybe she needed to reanalyze that one for a later time.

Not seeing anything else too obvious, she stood up and almost went straight down from the spinning her head and the pain that shot up through her ankle. Thankfully, there was a support beam to the ship nearby for her to grab onto before she pitched forward and blacked out again. Apparently she had an injured foot or ankle. For about two short seconds, she debated on finding Ami to ask her to look at it before recalling what a bitch the girl had been about everything.

"Well..maybe I can still find a way off this ship if I convince someone that she said to let me go." Pirates, no matter what, always had someone stupid enough on their crew to believe anything they heard that their Captain said. There had to be at least one dumb idiot on this ship.

Moving carefully and slowly, Minako used the wall to leave the room into a hallway and looked both ways. Not a person in sight, which seemed strange. It was also very quiet for that matter. Pirates were loud, rude, and morons. So far, she had yet to see two of these three. Perhaps it was best to look into each room and determine who was the best aspect into getting her off this ship and strangling her second (ex-second?) in command.

The first room opened up into what appeared to be a library lined completely with books and two tables. One was completely empty and the other one was covered in papers and handwriting. Stepping closer, she realized that one of them was…questionable to call any form of writing.

"…is that an a or a q?" She couldn't help but look over it, unable to decipher what it said and looked over at the other crisp handwriting that seemed to be a bunch of medical jargon. She assumed this to be Ami's given she was medically treating Rei and herself. This room really didn't provide anything to her her, so she moved along.

It was what was in the next room that really floored her. Minako heard a noise inside and leaned against the door to hear…humming? Slowly pushing it open, she was stunned and could only stare as Makoto was humming while wearing a floral printed apron and cooking. This was what had terrified her? This was the giant? Ami was more terrifying than she was!

"Oh! You're moving, that's great!" There was a moment of panic as she realized Makoto had spotted her and opened the door all the way. "I was just cooking you something to eat. You were out for a quarter of the day so I figured you had missed lunch and wanted something to eat."

Minako hesitated before slowly moving into the room, limping more than was necessary to try and make Makoto believe she wasn't a threat. Carefully, she sat down at a table and was immediately offered a second glass of fresh water. "Th..Thanks."

Something wasn't adding up right here by any means. The ship was clean for starters, in the three rooms and the hallway she had already encountered and inspected. Second was how quiet the ship was despite it being run by pirates. This made her have a startling realization. Every one she had encountered on this ship was a female. There had yet to be a single male present.

"Uh..M..Makoto was it?"

"Yes?" Makoto turned to look at her as she worked on moving what appeared to be a soup into a bowl.

"How many of you are on this ship?"

There was a noise of thought, as if she wasn't sure it was okay to answer. "Four of us. Five I guess, if we count you."

"FOUR!?" The noise startled Makoto enough to cause her to spill some soup and frown.

"Yeah. It's always been..well almost always. One was a little later I suppose."

Four people and she had already dealt with three that said getting off the ship wasn't going to be allowed. Which more than likely meant the fourth was in the same boat, in more than one way.

"How…How do you run a ship this large with four people?"

"Most of the rooms are just storage. And we each have a job that we do as a main priority, but we all do a bit of everything." Makoto sat the bowl of what was apparently a fish stew. Was every moment going to surprise her on this dumb pirate ship? "Sorry about Ami, by the way."

"Pardon?"

"She's not normally like that." Makoto gave her an apologetic smile. "She was in doctor mode, you see, and that makes her more brash. She's honestly really really nice."

Minako scoffed at that, but didn't even dignify it with a response. Nice was not the word she would use after the girl had shoved onto the side of her head with a threat. Picking up her spoon, she started to eat the stew and had to stop after the first bite she swallowed. How is it…this tasted better than anything any professional cook she had on her ship had ever done.

"Is it bad? I thought I added too much fish and I was afraid it was going to be too salty. I'm sorry about that!"

"I..No-it's fine. It's really good, actually." What the hell? Did she just _compliment_ the giant?

"Oh that's good! Well I have to go let the others know I have some food ready, so you can just leave your bowl there when you're done. I can clean it up since you're still hurt pretty badly. But I don't think Ami will be very happy to see you up and moving, concussion and all." Nodding, Makoto left Minako alone to stare at her bowl of food.

"What kind of fucking ship am I on? Am I even being held captive?" Deciding that finishing eating and continuing her inspection was the best idea, she quickly ate the rest of her soup and got up and moved back into the hallway. All that was left was a room way down back from where she started, a room at the other end, and the stairs up to the deck. She heard voices up on the deck and decided it might be better to check out the room further back down and then lay back down. She was getting tired quickly.

Carefully moving down the hallway, she opened the door to discover it was Rei's room and the girl was currently laid out on her bed and asleep. It was clear she was in pain by the way she flinched and her face twisted at it.

"Okay…" This was her chance. She could take this moment to completely eliminate Hino Rei with no one to stop her. She eyed the room and saw her own belt with it's weapons still attached hanging on the back of the door before looking back at the girl laid out and frowned.

Something about it didn't feel right. Something about taking her own sword and swiping it across Rei's throat for a quick death or even stabbing her into the abdomen for a slow one, felt wrong. The entire time she had been conscious on this ship, maybe half an hour, had not been unpleasant. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more she realized that she felt better treated here than she had her entire time in the Navy, commander or not.

Her head started to throb with a new pain and she shakily raised a hand up to it and realized she was sweating. This couldn't be the concussion. Minako had suffered more than her fair share of concussions in fights the last six months to know that sweating was not a side effect of one. She needed to move to lay down and now.

In what she thought would be a smooth move, she turned to take the sixteen steps out of the room and to the door of the one she started in. However, things took a turn for the worse. She stumbled and had to brace on the desk next to her, sending things flying to the ground as she gasped in pain.

Suddenly someone was holding her and she managed to turn to see Rei was up and had caught her to keep her from bashing her face into the ground and then someone was running to the room. All Minako could hear was a loud rushing noise in her ears as her vision started to try and black out and she had to grind her teeth through the pain and nausea that hit her like a wall.

For the second time that day, everything went black despite her attempts to fight this one


	4. You're with Her?

"Ami…" Makoto frowned, watching Ami pace back and forth in the room they had moved Minako back into. Initially, they heard Rei screaming for help and thought something was seriously wrong with her. Instead, they discovered that she was supporting an unconscious Minako. As it turned out, Minako had been walking about for half an hour after they left her alone and by the time she got into Rei's room, the infection she seemed to have on her arm overtook everything else and sent her crashing to the ground.

"I should have caught it." One thing about Ami is that she was extremely over critical of any decision she made, not matter now small or big. "I should have seen that her arm was infected before I wrapped it up. I didn't disinfect it properly."

"You were worried about the concussion. And the arm looked fine when we got it all wrapped up. Not to mention Rei needed some immediate attention too. Not to mention we're running low on our medical stuff" Makoto frowned, glancing out into the hallway. They'd convinced Rei to get more rest and that they could handle Minako themselves.

"Ships are often dirty and contaminated, Makoto. Not to mention they often have the blood of others on them which are houses for bacteria to gather in and mutate over time. I knew that and I didn't treat it properly."

"Okay you've got to stop." Letting out an exasperated sigh, Makoto got up and grabbed Ami's arm to stop the pacing. She could only handle the pacing and self analysis for so long. "She's fine now. She's getting some rest—"

"While she has a concussion! She shouldn't be resting!" She—" Ami's next words were cut off with a pair of soft lips for a short moment before they were gone. Just long enough to shut her up and short circuit her brain.

"You said it yourself when I talked to you above deck. Her walking around was a sign the concussion has pretty much passed." Offering Ami a smile, Makoto managed to pull her out of the room and down the hall to the one next to the deck that was their own. "Now relax."

"I…I.." Ami was having a hard time letting it go. But she once again found lips against her own, more forceful this time and she couldn't stop the small groan that left the back of her throat. Makoto swiped her tongue across Ami's lips, granting her access into her mouth.

"Mako…"

Makoto slowly pushed Ami backwards and onto the bed and climbed above her. "Shhh. It's alright. I'll make your mind go blank for a little while. You need a break."

"God…" Ami couldn't stop her body from arching as Makoto nipped sharply at her throat. For just a moment, her mind and body loathed the control Makoto had over her in this aspect. In a split second, that thought left her mind as sharp teeth were replaced with the hot swipe of a tongue.

One thing Makoto loved about Ami was that she wore shirts that were easy to unbutton and remove as her fingers easily slipped each button undone, allowing her a full view of Ami's breasts, though still in the bra. It was an easily attractive image and she bent her head to nip at the top of one of them, earning her a small squeak.

Her hands traveled the softness of her stomach and upwards, pushing the bra up as she went, not bothering to unhook it. That was effort and time and she needed to keep Ami preoccupied so she couldn't waste a moment to think. Her right hand went to Ami's left breast and covered it, earning her a small moan.

"Feels good?"

"Yes." Ami arched up into the touch again, hand tangling into Makoto's hair and pulling her closer, gasping as Makoto leaned down put her mouth around a nipple and suck and bite it playfully. Enough to be a tease and make Ami squirm, making her want more.

"Holy shit."

That was a voice that barreled into both women and Makoto in an instant had her gun in her hand and pointed at the door and Ami turned red immediately, trying to pull her shirt closed as Makoto prepared to threaten whoever was at their door.

What met them, however, was Minako staring at the two of them.

"You're fucking the Captain AND the cook?" For someone who had just been floored a short time ago, Minako was pretty aware and speaking pretty clearly. Apparently whatever Ami had provided her made her feel way better really quickly.

"What!?" Ami let out a squeaking noise as she got wide eyed at the assumption and Makoto turned to look at Ami dumbfounded.

"You're sleeping with Rei."

"I-I am not sleeping with..You actually think I'm sleeping with Rei!?"

"Well you said…you said earlier you were going to check in on Rei and then de-stress by sleeping with her."

"You told her you were sleeping with people?" That was surprised Makoto and made this entire situation weirder.

"Makoto! I'm not sleeping with Rei! Do you mind!?" She jerked her head to Minako and Makoto looked back over at her.

"Well hey, if she's gonna sleep with everyone, does that mean I—" Minako was cut off with a loud bang when Makoto fired her gun right past her head. Her eyes got wide as she felt the bullet graze her hair and knew the shot was missed intentionally.

"Fuck off."

With that one, Minako backed up out of the door and right into two other people who stumbled. One was Rei who let out a quiet curse at the elbow to her side and the other was some blonde haired guy.

"What the fuck is going on here?" Rei gently held her side as she glanced into the room and groaned. "You two, get dressed and come out." With that, she pulled the door shut.

"Wh..who…" Minako was confused at what all was even going on. Last she knew, she was in Rei's room and had left to find out what was going on, what had happened. She knew Rei was resting so she went to go up to the deck to ask and heard voices in Makoto and Ami's room and walked in on that.

After a few moments, the two left the room, Ami still rather red and looking at the floor and Makoto irritated.

"Alright…" Rei glanced between everyone. "What the hell is going on and why is there a hole in my ship?"

"W-well Mako and I were…well…" Ami didn't feel comfortable talking about this out loud, that was clear. Not to mention her body still felt a bit sensitive and her mind muddled.

"Ami and I were trying to fuck and she walked in on us and tried to sleep with Ami. And you!" Makoto pointed at Rei. "How can you sleep with Ami behind my back!?"

"I'm not sleeping with Ami." Rei blinked at that one, leaning against the wall for support. "What on earth gave you that idea?" Her eyes trailed over to Minako as Makoto pointed at her. "You'd believe the stranger?"

"Well she's the one that said it!" Minako tried to defend herself with a huff.

"I did not say that! I said I was going to check in on Rei and then go spend time with Makoto! I specifically said I was sleeping with—" Ami cut off, face going back to red really quickly as her voice dropped down at a realization. "You probably misunderstood because of the concussion…"

Rei sighed and looked at the figure that had been quiet the entire time. "How long?"

"We'll be in port in a day and a half. We won't be able to linger long since the Navy ship knows of our location." With that, they got off the wall they were leaning off and went back above the deck.

"Okay…Why would they leave our ship not sank though?" Makoto questioned this like the entire sleeping conversation hadn't happened and scratched the back of her head in confusion.

"Because…" Minako spoke up at this one. "It's a double catch. You see, he clearly wanted me removed and took my ship knowing I'd either die at your hands or seem like I abandoned my crew. He probably didn't anticipate this situation. At the same time, he knows where the top pirate is located at to destroy. It removes me and makes him look even better."

"I am NOT a pirate! Serenity, why does everyone call me that!"

"Because you STOLE a Navy merchant ship and you've…you've…" Minako's voice trailed off as she tried to rattle her brain on just…what Rei had done exactly. She'd been fighting pirate ships, stealing their contents and disappearing. Only…pirate ships.

"Stole a Navy ship, yes. Years ago. Enough that it's almost not even noticeable on the records. And that's it."

Ami looked over at Minako and tilted her head as she thought. "Minako…Who is your commanding officer?

"My..My officer?"

"Yes. The one who gave you this particular order. It's a rather specific one, even for the Navy for a ship that hasn't posed a threat to the Navy, the merchants, or the Queen."

"That's Chief Warrant officer H-..Hino." Her eyes widened as she turned to Rei who seemed to stiffen up at the name and her eyes narrowed into slits.

"Run that by me one more time, would you." That came out as a command and not a question and for the first time since her encounter with Rei's crew, she had seen Rei look like a pirate. Ready to murder.

"Uh. Takeshi Hino." Her hand came up to her mouth as she gasped. "His daughter disappeared one day and he said pirates did it!"

Everyone flinched as Rei slammed her hand into the side of the ship and stormed off back into her room and Minako made a move to go after her until Makoto grabbed her good arm. "Don't."

Ami motioned her head down the hallway and they went into Minako's room so Ami could look at Minako's arm again and see how she was doing. There were still signs of a fever and some sweating and she could tell the adrenaline was starting to wear off. More rest was in order and by the next day, she would be recovered fine.

"Her father put a hit out on her..?" Minako was still floored by this.

"It's not our place to talk about it." Ami was cold cut on this one. "This is Rei's topic and it's not our place to say what she wants known, I'm sorry. You need to rest more.." She paused as she frowned at Minako's arm. "We'll get this treated properly at the port. I know Rei said you weren't allowed to leave the ship, but given all the circumstances, you are free to disappear."

"Ami!" Makoto was shocked at that one. Ami had never once disobeyed an order from Rei.

"Makoto…her ship has been stolen and her crew against her. I'm giving her an option. Leave the ship and risk being a wanted criminal anyways, or stay on the ship and help us out and be welcome."

Minako knew the girl was right and bit her lip between her thoughts and the pain in her arm as Ami wrapped it back up. Since she had been on the ship, she had been treated really well. And if she stayed on shore too long, signs would start appearing wanting her as a criminal. Ace had it out for her, that was clear.

"I'll stay."

"Fine, but if you so much as try to hurt Rei-."

"She seems to do that just fine herself. Mind looking at my ankle while we're here, oh great doctor? Hurts to walk."

"Nothing more than a sprain. Already saw it when I took your blade out of your boot." Ami stood up and sighed. "Rest. We'll be at port and you'll need it. I'm sure Rei will send you out on your own errands to gather supplies. Come on Makoto." Ami and Makoto left the room, leaving Minako with her own thoughts as she laid down.

With that simple agreement, Minako had become a so-called pirate and left the Navy she lived most of her life with. Now Captain Hino Rei's crew was up to five people. Little did they know that this was only the beginning of their problems.


	5. Flirt

The room was silent for a while as Minako sat on the bed in what was now considered her room and stared at the floor. Makoto frowned as she watched her be entirely silent before she turned her head to look at Ami.

Was Ami actually…sleeping with the entire ship? The girl was extremely private and when she wanted to disappear on the ship, she had no issue doing so. This meant it was possible she disappeared into one of the rooms with another crew member. Would she seriously considering sleeping with Minako too? There was no denying the girl looked good. Makoto nearly jumped when Minako finally spoke up.

"How injured was she? Rei, I mean…" She was twirling the piece of wood that Ami had removed in her hands.

Ami let out a small sigh. "Well you cut her shoulder open pretty badly, enough that when she is up and moving, I'll have to possibly put it in a sling. Take about a month or more to heal. The explosion pelted her with shrapnel from the ship and I had to remove several pieces, but..that one was the largest. It was the only one I had to stitch up. That'll heal in about a week's time, but it used up the last of our medical supplies."

"We can get more when we port." Makoto got off the wall she was leaned on and gently took Ami's arm to pull her to the side to talk. "Are you sure it's wise telling her all this stuff?"

"She's part of the ship. If she was going to kill Rei, she would have done it before she collapsed. There was plenty opportunity in the time we were above deck after she talked to you."

When Makoto went to turn to look at Minako, her eyes got wide. "Oh god…Haruka found her alone."

Even Ami had to cringe at that thought as they turned to watch the events unfold.

Minako found herself startled when an arm from the man in the hallway earlier went around her shoulder and she looked at it for a moment.

"Can I uh..help you?"

"You really are as good looking as I thought you were."

"Pardon?"

Haruka grinned as the arm around Minako's neck trailed down and grasped her hand, which only startled Minako more. "Rough hands too. I bet you're great in bed, this has to create all kinds of sensations." There was a single wink that followed this line right along with a lecherous grin followed by her hand sliding up her arm and towards her chest.

"Okay Ami, maybe we should stop her." Makoto moved to pull Haruka away but it was too late.

In a flash Minako pulled back, ripped her arm free, and socked Haruka right in the face.

"OH GOD. FUCK THAT HURTS." Immediately there was a gush of blood running down her face, making Makoto and Ami run over, Makoto pulling Minako away.

"Uh…Sorry we didn't uhm..she just…"

"She!?" Minako whirled to stare at Makoto.

"Yeah. Haruka is well..don't let her looks deceive you. If her personality didn't already tip you off, she's kind of a really really big flirt. We thought she might leave you be until she got to know you." Makoto frowned as she looked over and saw Haruka flirting with Ami, bloody nose and all.

"You can play doctor with me any day, you know Ami?"

There was a twinge of pain in Makoto's chest at that as Ami didn't retort or smack the girl right up until Ami moved and stepped hard on Haruka's feet to look at her nose, earning an additional noise of pain. Immediately the pain in Makoto's chest was relieved.

"Earth to Makoto."

"Hmm?" Makoto turned to look back at Minako and blinked. "What?"

"Is she always like that?"

"She had something to drink today so it's usually not so bad. And if it makes you feel any better, I threw her over the ship when she hit on me the first time. She sort of grabbed at my chest."

"Sort of?"

"Sort of, details not needed and not the point here. Anyways, we'll let you get some rest." Makoto turned to leave and was met face to face with a tipsy Haruka and she tried to brace. The moment Haruka went to put her hand on her though and drop her one liner, Ami slapped her hand away.

"Enough, Haruka. Get out." Despite Ami's small frame, she pushed Haruka out of her room and back above the deck with a huff. Seeing Ami shove Haruka off of her made Makoto feel slightly better, like perhaps Ami did care about her.

Makoto turned back to Minako and offered a small smile. "You have a uh..really good right hook."

"I was part of the Navy, of course I have one." Minako acted like it was nothing as she sat back down on the bed and stretched a little.

"Get some rest, Minako." Ami's soft voice was back, less firm than she had been in forcing Haruka out of the room. "You'll need it at the port to help us gather supplies. With so few of us, it can take a while and a few trips."

Giving a mock salute, Minako laid down and Makoto and Ami left the room, going into their own where Ami rubbed the back of her neck.

"…Ami, can I ask you something?"

Ami turned to look at Makoto and tilted her head. "Of course."

"I uh..uhm.." How did she phrase this without coming off like she believed Ami was sleeping around the entire ship and pissing her off? She knew the fear wasn't necessary, Ami wasn't like that. But she needed some verbal confirmation that it wasn't going on, that the girl was true to her after everything they had been through.

"Please don't be mad for me asking, I just need to make sure. You're really only…" She paused, picking a phrasing. "Really only interested in me, right?"

Ami looked stunned at the question for a moment, just enough for Makoto to catch it, before her eyes softened and she smiled a little. Makoto had such a soft heart despite how strong she looked. Ami knew everyone had a weakness, and Makoto was honestly afraid of losing her.

"Mako. I've never had interest with anyone on this ship except for you. The only time I've ever seen a crew member, outside of you, missing clothes, is when I've been fixing them up. If that's not enough for you…" She crossed the room and slid her hand up around the back of Makoto's neck before pulling her down into an earth shattering kiss that made Makoto weak in the knees.

After a few long moments of kissing, they broke apart and Makoto was dazed and stunned before she offer a smile to Ami.

"And as much as I'm sure we'd both like to continue from earlier, we also need to rest if we'll be in port in a day and a half. We still need to do ship repairs."

That caused Makoto to pout as they moved to the bed and both laid down, Ami nestling into Makoto's arm and resting her head on her shoulder, arm across her waist.

"Ami."

"Yes?"

"I love you."

Ami smiled a little and pressed a kiss to Makoto's shoulder. "I love you too."

And within minutes, the two of them were asleep like the rest of the ship, except for Haruka. Port awaited them all, but that was not the only thing that would greet them.

* * *

Apologies for this chapter delay! Im managing school and work again (And was dealing with a hurricane).

Thank you for all the great reviews so far! I promise you every thing is connected and I'm planning 0 open ends if possible. I have a 2nd writer helping with this and providing ideas.

Also next chapter will pick up and showcase the supernatural side of things and some good ol' Rei!


	6. Port

"What's wrong with the name?" Rei looked over at Minako as they prepared to move into the port to gather supplies.

"Flame Sniper? It sounds so…cheesy. And dumb for that matter."

"And your ship, Evening Star, was better?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"Because I'm the Evening Star!" Minako winked at Rei who just scoffed and rolled her yes.

"You're intolerable. Look, your job is to help Ami and Makoto get whatever supplies they need. And stay away from Haruka. I had to explain to her the black eye and bruised nose this morning. She was not too happy about it." Without waiting for a response, Rei walked away and over to the edge of the ship, helping put the landing board down before leaving to solid ground.

And she could praise Serenity over having solid ground beneath her feet and a few minutes of other people. Though Rei much preferred to be alone, there were times when it was incredibly over whelming. That aside, she had her own to do list. Ami and Makoto were off to get food supplies to stock the ship up with Minako in tow. After much debate, the had allowed the latter to get her belt back.

Rei herself needed to gather the medical supplies they needed along with some new maps and books for logs. And whatever the name of that book Ami had written down was.

The port area of the town was crowded with other merchant ships similar to theirs stocking up to get back onto the sea for overseas trading. The good thing about this port is that almost no Navy ships ever docked at it, so it was easier on Rei. What did get her attention was a ship towards the end of the docks that seemed like it should have sank a long time ago.

"Well..some people are really good at plugging up holes I guess." As Rei went to walk away, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and she had to turn look back at that very ship. Something about it was extremely unsettling and made her very uncomfortable. It was like red flags were raised everywhere but she couldn't find anything that would indicate any sort of danger from it or anyone currently in the port. "Maybe I'm just off from the injuries…"

Ignoring that feeling, she moved into a shop for medical supplies first. They would need a large restock given that they now had to worry about the Navy finding them and looking more actively in the ports, meaning far less stops. Rei made a point to keep her head down and hat pulled low, given she was still wanted. Thought it was less likely to happen here, it was always a possibility and only her face was ever shown on the wanted posters.

"How much are your medical kits?"

"10 gold each."

"How many do you have?"

"Five, but it's limited to one per person, I'm afraid."

Rei unclipped a bag at her waist and counted for a moment before sitting a pile on the counter. "I'll pay you 80 gold to get all five and have them delivered to my ship." Though she would rather make a deal, time was very important currently and she would have to put out more gold.

The clerk at the counter got really wide eyes before nodding and calling a loading boy over, Rei providing instructions of what ship to give it to. They had Haruka stay behind to receive supplies and to keep her occupied and away from Minako at the time being.

"One item down, three to go…"

The rest of her item buying went smoothly, making sure to be kind enough to pick a bottle of rum out for Haruka since she would likely not be getting any other any time soon. The last thing she needed was someone else whining on her ship.

"That should be everything we needed on my end then." Turning, Rei was ready to go find the others when she stopped as she passed a sales booth. A charm reflecting in the sun had caught her eye that looked like a star, but reflected many colors. She felt for the first time in a very long time compelled to buy something that wasn't a requirement to live and she had no idea why. Going with her gut instinct, she purchased it for exactly 2 gold and attached it to the front of her jacket.

Moving along, she headed towards the others at the port, making sure to keep her head down when someone stepped directly in front of her. Without speaking a word, she moved left, only for the feet in her field of vision to follow. Rei was getting irritated quickly when it happened a third time before she spoke up.

"Can I help you." Now was not the time to phrase anything as a question as that meant you were at least some form of polite. Hino Rei had no time for politeness with the Navy hot on her trail and a new straggler on her ship she needed to keep tabs on.

"Why you can indeed, Miss Hino Rei."

Instantly, Rei's head snapped up to be met with the face of someone who looked as what she could only describe as ghostly pale. Then she realized he was accompanied by his whole ship crew and that didn't seem like it was going to end well. Usually pirates avoided her because of her quick and destructive forces. She was only sought out by the Navy and even that was considered rare outside of Minako's ship.

"And just what do you need help with? Learning how to get some color?" The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. The last thing she needed was a port fight that could bring in the Navy ships or the military that was located not too far away from the city.

"I assure you, I get plenty of sunlight. No, I'm here for you. To capture you, for General Jadeite."

"…Jadeite?" Rei blinked as the name didn't ring any bells and she tried to recall any run ins she had with other ships, but she almost never got a name for a Captain. She was too quick and thorough.

During her time of thinking, Makoto, Ami, and Minako had reappeared, ready and raring to go.

"Ami."

"Yes, Captain?" Ami leaned forward the look at her as she eyed the men closely.

"Return to the ship. We may need you after all this is done."

"…Are you sure?"

"Are you going to really question my orders right about now?"

Ami let out a sigh at the biting tone she got back. Rei's patience was long gone at this point. "Very well. We'll watch from the ship." And with that, she left the others to go prepare the ship both to leave and ready it up for a make shift infirmary.

"Rei, who the hell are these guys?" Makoto leaned over next to her.

"Does the name 'Jadeite' sound familiar to you at all?" Rei glanced at her, hand on her sword just in case they decided to attack.

"..Hmmmm. Nope. Shoulda asked Ami before you sent her packing. You know how she is. Knows it all."

"Enough chat, ladies. If you two want to stand in our way so be it. But were are only here for one and you're coming dead or alive." The man drew his sword and immediately Rei felt hairs stand up on the back of her neck as if red flags were going off left and right.

"Kill them all." Rei's eyes cut to Minako. "That means no one left alive, got it? This isn't the Navy."

Minako glared heavily at Rei. "Just because I'm blonde doesn't mean I'm deaf and stupid. Kill them all, got it. No mercy. Pirates. Arrrr."

Rei had to roll her eyes as she drew her blade. Both sides stood quietly, weapons all draw. Makoto was wielding her two handed sword and Minako her scimitar. The port was silent as bystanders stood far away.

Then it suddenly started with Rei making the first move and clashing swords with the man who had started provoking her. What astounded her was the force of strength she met. The man was ghostly pale and looked like she should have been able to force his blade down and his head off within a minute tops. This was proving otherwise.

"Did you think I would provide such an easy fight for you like you're used to? My, that makes you quite lazy, doesn't it?"

"Shut the hell up. I'm really sick of hearing your voice." Grunting, Rei pulled her sword back and jabbed forward, nicking him in the arm for a moment before both swords met with a sharp clang of metal on metal. It took both her hands to press down to keep any form of control on the situation. The fact that Minako had only injured her left shoulder less than a day ago made it harder.

Letting out a breath she glanced over at Minako to see how she was doing. Apparently rather well, if the bodies beside here were any indication. Her moves were flowing and smooth, as though she were in a dance and for a split second it distracted Rei, causing his sword to slide down and cut into her wrist for the tiniest of seconds.

Rei hissed as she took several steps back and looked where the blade had hit. She could have sword it felt like it was on fire for a moment, but not in the way one would describe a cut. It felt like literal fire entering her hand at that point and she looked up at him.

"Something on your mind? I don't really have time myself for you to inspect every tiny injury, you know."

Without moving, she suddenly tilted her gun up and shot the man dead in the face, watching him fall face first to the ground. Close combat was too dangerous with him, but apparently he hadn't payed close enough attention to her pistol at her waist.

Next she turned her head to judge Makoto's situation and saw her slicing men down as quickly as she could, but noted she had a long gash along the back of her hand, not that it was slowing her down currently.

"Time to finish this up as quickly as possible." Separating from the other two taking care of some men, she went further into the fray and started to cut others down as quickly as she could. Sometimes using her pistol and sometimes with her short sword. She figured they had five minutes to wrap this up and be on the ship before they really pushed their luck.

"Rei, watch out!"

Unfortunately, the warning came too late and Rei looked up just in time to see a cannonball headed straight towards her from the ship at the end of the dock, which had moved much closer. She glanced at her surroundings, noting near by gunpowder kegs for other ships. She had no time to brace, no time to find cover from the impending danger. There was just a loud explosion and fire after direct contact with a keg, followed by silence.

* * *

Sorry for a delayed post, not that I have a schedule! This is Rei's chapter and I hope you enjoyed it! Way more content to come and up through chapter 8 detail planned out thus far! Maybe 9 even.

Im loving the reviews I've been getting also! Thank you so much and I hope you all grow to love how this goes!

Edit: Had to make an adjustment at the end I forgot about. Whoops.


	7. Arguments

_"I'm telling you now, if you so much as even think of harming anyone on this ship, it will be the very last thing you do. Do I make that entirely clear?"_

 _Minako sighed and rolled her eyes. Rei had been given her this lecture for hours leading up to them arriving at the port. "I've got it for the seventh time this hour. No thinking of hurting anyone, no attempts of assassination in the middle of the night, etc. God you're worse than my Mother."_

 _She had to admit that she loved the glare she got in return. She wasn't going to deny that Rei was really good looking. Seeing long hair out on the seas was pretty rare and she couldn't image Rei with hair of any other length. The way it framed her face was perfect too. She had to wonder what the girl looked like when she actually smiled._

 _"Alright… Here."_

 _Reaching out, she took her belt that had her sword and gun attached to it and smirked. She couldn't resist the comment._

 _"Why, Rei. If you wanted my belt off, all you had to do was ask. Do you want my pants off too?"_

 _Within moments, Rei turned a fantastic shade of red, a mix between anger and embarrassment at the remark._

 _"God you're insufferable! Go irritate someone else for once!" With that, Rei stomped off else where in the ship, grumbling the entire way._

* * *

The air smelled strongly of smoke and fire as people around the area screamed, trying to either put fires out or run away from the devastation. There had been no time to react and Rei had been dead center of it. Minako could only stare where the other girl had been standing. It was nothing but high flames. The chances of surviving that….

She cut her eyes away from that scene and over to where the ship had fired. It was progressing closer which meant so was whatever crew was still on it. Then she looked up through the valley above the port town they were in. There was a military up that way and they would have heard that explosion and see all the smoke at the very least, meaning that shortly they would be arriving. They couldn't stay.

With that decision in mind, she turned to Makoto to give her an order and could only stare.

In what seemed to be a fit of rage, Makoto was slicing down the pirates left and right, showing no mercy as she moved from one to the next. She saw the sword go straight down into a man's shoulder, who let out a painful scream before Makoto shoved down on the sword and sliced into him far enough to kill him before kicking his body off her two handed blade. That seemed brutal, even for Makoto.

She needed to act, now. Minako ran over to the other girl and barely back stepped from the sword slicing straight down where she had been standing before getting stuck in the dock from the force of the strike.

"I'll consider myself lucky…" Stepping forward, she shook Makoto's shoulders hard while she struggled to get the sword free. "Makoto! Snap out of it!"

The other girl seemed to snap out of it after a short moment and stare at Minako before her eyes didn't look so glazed over and instead started to water up. "Is…Rei is.."

"We have to go. The military is on the way, not to mention their ship closing in on ours, and the Navy on our tail. I'm sorry, but…" Her eyes cut over to where Rei was and she swallowed. Why was this so hard? She'd hardly known her! "We need to leave."

Makoto had shut her eyes, trying to come to terms with what had happened before she opened them and nodded, ripping the sword out of the wood below them. She made it all of five running steps to the ship when something gripped the back of her shirt and she whipped around, ready to shoot whoever it was in the face.

Minako jerked back, also ready to stop whoever it was, but let out a gasp instead.

"Where…the fuck are you going…without your Captain…" Rei was gripping the back of Makoto's shirt, struggling to stay standing. She was covered in soot and her hair and clothes were singed badly and she was bearing a few…minor burns.

"What the fuck?" Minako managed to catch Rei before she collapsed. Okay..asking how Rei had survived that with such minimal injuries would have to come later. She noted blood coming out of her ears when she repositioned her so Makoto could carry her. That meant her ears had been blown out by the explosion. "Can you run with her?"

"Wouldn't be the first time, even if she won't admit it." Makoto took off past Minako towards the ship.

Minako looked behind her as she followed closely behind Makoto, noting that the ones that hadn't died in the explosion were still chasing them. When they got close to the ship, she realized Ami and Haruka were both ready to pull the board up the moment they were on the ship. "Let's hope they don't decide to dump me now…"

Thankfully, they didn't pull the board out from under her feet and waited till she was on board. However, a few stragglers made it on, making it impossible to pull it onto the ship. Taking a deep breath, Minako pulled her pistol out and aimed carefully, shooting each one dead in the face until they could progress.

Ami was the first one to speak up. "Haruka, take us out West into the sea. Keep going for a while until I can analyze the new charts. Makoto, take Rei down below the deck to the right side. First room. Minako—" Ami turned to look at her and seemed lost.

"I'll help keep watch for anyone following us." It was the best she could offer as she watched Makoto run off with Rei. "Will she be okay?"

"I'm not sure. What happened?"

Minako paused, trying to decide how to phrase it. "She was caught in a massive explosion. The other ship shot at the port where gunpowder was at. Rei was dead center."

"…Dead center? Are you positive?"

"Yes. You can ask Makoto. In other words…" There was a pause for a short moment. "She should have died."

Ami seemed entirely skeptical and Minako could only roll her eyes. Right, no one really trusted her on this ship. "I told you to ask Makoto. She was there as much as I was. Hell that's if she was even paying attention."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Ami took offense to Minako targeting Makoto once again.

"I didn't mean it like that! I went to tell her we had to go and she was in some dumb fucking rage! She almost sliced me in half!"

"Are you sure you didn't do anything to provoke her?"

"Me-!?" Minako had to stop herself and took a very deep breath, closing her eyes and counting backwards from three. Time was important. "All I did was approach her. I had to snap her out of it. Anyways, shouldn't you be off playing doctor?" Ami was only serving to irritate her and give her a headache.

"Let me make something else very clear to you. Rei gives the orders on this ship, not you."

"I thought Rei was dead! If we stayed there, either they were going to kill us, the military was going to show up, or even better, the Navy!" Now it was raised voices. Minako's patience was gone at this point.

"You didn't even check to see if she was alive. You were going to leave her." Ami's words were cold and so was the glare she was giving.

"Rei was caught in the middle of a massive fire. What was I supposed to do, jump in all high and mighty like some goddess of fire?"

"Ami." Makoto's voice interrupted them both and Minako looked over to see the girl cradling her hand.

"Ill say it again. Rei is in charge, not you." With that, Ami walked away to approach Makoto and look at her hand before both disappeared below the deck again.

Minako had to grind her teeth in frustration. She had followed every single rule given to her since she agreed to stay on the ship and yet she was still being treated like she had done something awful and unforgivable.

"Apparently I was wrong in my initial assessment…Makoto isn't the freak, she is."

* * *

So this ended up being a different chapter than I expected it to be! The content intended for it will appear in the NEXT chapter.

There's a lot of tension going on within the ship now for sure (get it, High Tension?)

We're about to hit that "supernatural" territory.


	8. Doctor

After the incident with Minako's arm, Ami was making it a point to be very thorough in any assessment she had to do of any single injury, no matter how small. After determining that Rei wasn't in any form of a critical condition, she turned her attention instead to Makoto and her injured hand. The gash across the back was a clean cut, thankfully, but still rather long. She had lost more blood than Ami would have liked, but not enough to require a blood transfer.

"How long has it been since this happened?"

"Uh…"

"Roughly."

"Maybe thirty minutes. Maybe a little longer? I'm not sure how long we fought at the port." Makoto tilted her head as she watched Ami work. Nothing to her was cuter than a really focused Ami.

"Can you move your fingers?"

"Mm." Makoto did as instructed, though the movement was limited.

"What about feeling?"

"It feels mostly numb. I can feel my fingers move, but not the normal way."

Ami frowned at that and pulled one of the new medical boxes to her, opening it and grinning a little at all the new supplies. It was going to make this task that much easier to handle. First was cleaning up all the blood so she could see exactly what she was doing. While she would have preferred to wear gloves, she needed to save the few that came in a kit for serious emergencies and knew that everyone, outside of Minako, didn't carry anything pathogenic in their bloodstream.

As she reached for a paper towel, she hissed a little.

"What's wrong?" Immediately Makoto had her hand held, looking at it.

"Just a splinter. I caught it pulling the board up onto the ship. I can get it out with the tweezers here." Pulling her hand away, she did just that before resuming her previous task. "This might hurt some if you can still feel."

Gently, she took to washing the back of Makoto's hand. While Makoto didn't make any noises of protest, her face did contort in some pain, which Ami took as a good sign. It meant she hadn't severed any nerves from the looks of it, just exposed them to the air, making them extremely tender. After setting all the cleaning supplies to the side, she picked up a syringe and a bottle.

"…Ami, what's that for?"

"I'm going to have to numb your hand to do the stitches."

"You didn't numb Rei the other day!"

"I didn't have anything to numb her with. Trust me, it'll hurt a lot less this way."

Makoto pouted instantly. While Ami being a doctor could be cute, she was a lot more brash and straight forward, not caring what the person she treated liked or disliked. "Ami…"

Ami finally looked up after she got the right amount of fluid into the syringe to be met with what she called Makoto's 'puppy dog eyes.'

"You're not even afraid of needles, Makoto."

"That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt though."

Ami sighed for a small moment and brought her fingers up to rest on her nose between her eyes, closing them. There were just some times she had to come up with ways to make things work in her favor. This was a time she wished she didn't have to given the seriousness of the situation. Makoto had already lost a lot of blood and her hand had been exposed to the air and held the risk of something getting to it and creating a host of complications and diseases. And yet, she wanted to play this game now of all times.

"Look. If you behave while I do this and don't whine or complain, I'll give you a kiss in return." A simple gesture, but one that hopefully would work.

"Just a kiss?"

"Makoto." Ami growled out the warning that she didn't really have the patience for this at the current time. And if there was one thing Makoto knew, it was not to piss Ami off.

"Kiss it is." With that, she held her hand out.

Ami eyed it for a moment before injecting the liquid into five different areas of her hand and putting the cap back onto the syringe to keep it from poking someone else until she could dispose of it whenever they landed again. Then she moved to get the items out to stitch her hand back up. Once each item was pulled out and laid out, she leaned up and grabbed Makoto by the front of her shirt firmly.

"Just so we're clear, Makoto…I'm not really fond of these games when I'm having to stitch you back up. Clear?"

Makoto had to swallow at the tone Ami gave the threat in for two reasons. One was that it was absolutely terrifying and the second was that it was incredibly hot. "Clear."

"Good. Next time I won't be so kind and next time you'll be sleeping in the library." Without allowing room for a retort, she leaned forward and firmly pressed her lips to Makoto's for a few moments before pulling away.

With Makoto appeased, she picked up her needle and thread and set to work on the task of putting Makoto's hand back together. Unfortunately, it was likely going to have a scar that would be fairly visible and there would have to be physical therapy work to get her hand back to maximum function, but in the back of her mind, Ami knew that wouldn't an issue. There were always extracurricular activities to help with that part.

After a silent fifteen minutes, Makoto's hand was put back together and Ami worked on wrapping it up next.

"Your hand is going to swell in a few hours and it's probably going to become incredibly painful after the shot wears off. You need to tell me so I can redo the wrapping on it so it's not cutting your circulation off and causing any further damages."

"Yes ma'am."

Pleased with her work, she pulled a small box towards her that was her own and fiddled with the content inside for a bit. "You should get some rest, Makoto." Her voice was softer now that she knew the injury had been taken care of and she felt guilt nipping at her for the tone she had taken earlier in their conversation over the needle.

"Here?"

"For now. That way I can make sure nothing happens while I go look over Rei. I can wake you up when I leave if you want."

"Mm.." Makoto made a noise of agreement before shifting to lay down, watching Ami sit down on the bed next to her.

"Sorry."

"For what?"

"…." Ami was quiet for a moment as she looked down at her hands. "Being so harsh."

Makoto smiled and reached up to put her good hand on Ami's arm. "You were just trying to do your job, Ami. It's okay."

Still, that didn't stop the guilt gnawing at her. After bringing her hand up to her mouth for a short moment, she compensated by leaning down and kissing Makoto again, this time swiping her tongue across her lips so she could gain access. Once that was permitted, she slipped a pill into Makoto's mouth and continued to kiss her, forcing her to swallow it before pulling away.

"That was mean…"

"Getting you to take a pill is harder than getting you to accept a needle. You got a kiss out of it though."

"Still cheating."

Smiling a little, Ami leaned forward and kissed her again. "I'll make it up to your properly later, promise. But I'm afraid Rei still needs to get some attention before she wakes back up."

"Deal. But no complaints on whatever I do later."

Well that sounded a bit concerning for sure. Makoto was very good at surprising Ami with new things or wanted to try something new. Whether it was a new combat technique, a new word she had learned, or something new to try in bed.

"We'll see."

"Aww come on Ami. I've had a long day."

"All the more reason to rest, Mako. No complaints, deal."

Grinning, Makoto stretched a little and rolled onto her side to get some rest. Ami smiled and covered her up with a blanket, softly humming and running her fingers through Makoto's hair after removing the ponytail until the girl fell asleep a few minutes later.

Now it was time to see how her Captain was doing.

* * *

Sorry for this super delay! I'm balancing a ton of exams at once in my classes.

This was solely a MakoAmi chapter, but things start to get really interesting REALLY soon I promise you that. Starting with the next chapter, I hope. I think it's going to be a split character chapter.

Thank you so much for all the encouragement to keep this going! I promise it's not dead, not by a long shot. I can't wait for all my little tricks I've put into each chapter to come through. Everything is relevant. :D


	9. Disoriented

Despite not wanting to see Ami again so soon, Minako found herself back below deck and into what was the current infirmary room. She was sent down by Haruka to give her an update on the situation as well as see how everyone was holding up under the premise that Minako had socked Haruka in the face and owed her one. Immediately she sat next to Rei's feet as she watched Ami look over her.

"The ship didn't seem to follow us. We think they couldn't get the rest of the crew on board in time or the military intervened."

"Mm.." Ami made a noise to indicate she was listened as she cleaned the blood around Rei's ears to determine the level of damage.

Sighing, Minako looked over at Makoto to see her asleep, though her hand was now wrapped up which meant she had gotten treatment first. A frown tugged at Minako's lips at this given how strict Ami was about 'Rei this' and 'Captain that.' Then again, it was a possibility that Rei's injuries were simple damage to her ears at the current time. She looked over her and realized her jacket helped prevent a lot of damage and burns, but it still didn't answer anything.

"Ami."

"What?"

Well with that tone she wanted to not even ask the question, but proceeded anyways. "Suppose Rei wasn't in direct area of the explosions, she was still surrounded by all that fire. I get her ears being blown out from the noise level…but why doesn't she have more burns? I can't image she has fire proof clothing on out at sea."

Ami frowned at that one as she sat the dirty towels in the pile with what she had cleaned Makoto up with.

"I can't really say without having been there at that moment. There's a possibility she was just rather fortunate and wasn't surrounded directly by flames. Even leaving the area, if she was quick enough, would prevent damages. But if you say she was in direct area of the explosion, I imagine she'd be a lot more injured than just her ear drums busted for a few days."

"So she won't be able to hear anything?"

"If she does, it'll all sound incredibly muffled to her and she won't be able to understand it."

"And we communicate how?"

"Well some of us know how to write."

Oh well wasn't that nice. Ami was now insinuating that she didn't know how to write? She was a Navy Commander for Serenity's sake!

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. Look I need to clean all this up so stay put for a while."

Minako glared at the girl but if it meant she was gone and Rei was okay, she'd take her chances. "Fine."

* * *

 _The smell of blood was strong in the air and the silence itself was deafening. Rei felt like she had to fight to open her eyes and all she could see was red, which was startling. Reaching a hand up, she swiped at her face, believing she had blood covering her vision, only to find it was clean._

 _"What the hell…" Opting to blink a few times, her vision started to clear and she started to make out a figure with blond hair in front of her, but she couldn't make anything else out immediately. A few more blinks and everything was startling clear._

 _She was smelling blood in the air, and it was thick and her arms were coated in the sticky substance, a sign it had been there for a while. That was the least terrifying part of what was before her._

 _No, Minako was in front of her, hardly able to stand and leaning against the mast of the ship for support. Rei herself was holding her pistol up to her forehead, getting a glazed look in return. Minako was already dying._

 _Despite her efforts, Rei's body refused to move other than her own eyes. It was as though her body was being controlled by someone else. She found she couldn't even get words out despite her initial ones when opening her eyes._

 _Then she made a critical mistake and looked to her left, only to see Ami and Makoto laying on the deck. Makoto was in front of Ami, both rammed through with Makoto's own two-handed blade in what had to be a painful death. Neither one was moving._

 _"Why…Rei…?"_

 _Minako's voice snapped her vision back forward and she found she still couldn't answer. All she could see was the betrayal beyond the death's door in Minako's eyes._

 _"Why kill…all of us, after what we've done for you?"_

 _Kill…all of them? She had done this? No, that was…_

 _Rei started to shake her head, trying to get her arm to lower as she felt muscles starting to tense up. It was too late and she felt her finger pull the trigger and could only watch in horror as Minako took a bullet straight to the forehead and fell._

* * *

Rei woke up screaming, not realizing it was Minako holding onto her. She instantly pulled away from the contact to stand up, only to lose her balance due to her ears being blown out and landing hard on the ground next to a post in the room for the ships support.

The next thing she saw was a ghostly hand reaching for her and she could only panic. She couldn't hear, she had no idea what was going on, and the last thing she remembered were the pirates on the dock. Leaving nothing to chance, she grabbed the hand and yanked them towards her and the post as hard as she could.

* * *

"IN THE NAME OF SERENITY!" Minako stumbled back from Rei, putting her hands up to her face where blood was spilling down from the bridge of her nose. "What the fuck is your problem!?" Minako turned to see Ami running down the stairs at all the commotion, to be met with Rei on the floor, eyes dilated and breathing heavily, and Minako bleeding everywhere.

"What happened?"

"She slammed my face into the support beam is what happened! She was screaming and I tried to wake her up—fuck that hurts!" Minako's eyes started to water at the pain and discomfort.

Ami looked from Minako over to Rei and very carefully approached the girl on the floor, waving her hand in her face and frowning at the lack of response.

"I think she's entirely disoriented from everything…She may have had a nightmare if she was screaming which just adds to it." As she spoke, Ami picked up her own medical box and took a syringe out and filled it with fluid. "She's unstable to stay awake right now. If she attacked you, well…" Without another word, she injected the fluid into Rei's arm carefully.

Within a matter of moments, Rei slumped against the support beam, once again unconscious. "Help me move her back to the bed."

"And my face?"

"After we move her I'll address it."

Ami was concerned about Rei's mental state if she had suddenly attacked Minako after waking up. She could only analyze it as a traumatic effect of the explosion and no recollection of it happening. Hopefully it would wear off by the time she woke up again.

Once they both got Rei back onto the bed, this time without her jacket on, Ami turned to look at Minako's face.

"The good news is she made it a clean one. I should be able to fix this up with little to no scarring left behind. Here, press this to it." She passed over some gauze for Minako to hold to it until the bleeding stopped as she turned to look back at Rei again.

"Is she gonna like…do that again? Because I'm not going twice in a row."

"I'm…not sure. It's not something she's ever done before or something I've ever come across either."

"It was like she had seen a ghost or something, the way she looked at me."

"A ghost."

"Yeah."

"Ghosts aren't real, Minako." Ami stared at her like she had just given the dumbest statement of the century.

"Say what you want and what you believe-"

"It's scientifically impossible. That's like saying spontaneous combustion is possible."

"I…" Minako sighed and closed her eyes. She could feel her face swelling up and at this point, wanted to lay down for a few hours. "Can we just fix my face? Forget the whole conversation."

Making a noise of agreement, probably the first thing either had agreed on, Ami realized, she used butterfly stitch bandages to pull the skin on Minako's face back together and then a bandage over it carefully.

"I'm sure you're aware already, but it's going to swell a lot and take some time to heal up."

"Not the first time I've had some black eyes or a busted nose. I'm going back to my room to get some rest. Haruka said she's going to wait for Rei to come around to look at the maps to determine where we should go next. Outside of that, she's staying out in the ocean to avoid others."

"So she does learn." Ami smirked a little to herself. Haruka had once tried keeping closer to the land side of things, resulting in a hefty fight with the Navy once. "I'll be in here, keeping an eye on Rei."

"If you need me, wake me up." Without waiting for a response, Minako left Ami to turn and look at Rei once more with a frown and concern written on her face.

* * *

I'm really great at laughing at my own plot devices that I sneak into things. My co-writer actually knows NOTHING about what happens in this entire chapter!

I had to really break this one up a lot to get things across and I hope that wasn't too confusing for you!

Chapter 10 is going to be a "fun" chapter for me to write. Less fun for PD.


	10. Day One

The entire world felt like it had been tilted sideways, flipped inside out, and then dropped onto her when Rei started to come back around. If she had to phrase it, she felt like total shit. Her head was pounding and her wrist was sore as was her upper left arm. Did she get rammed by her ship face first?

Slowly and carefully, she opened her eyes and looked up at the ceiling. Good news, it was her ship. Bad news, she was on her ship but she wasn't hearing the ocean. She raised her left hand up towards her ear to feel something in her hand. Slowly she raised it and had to focus to read it.

 _Don't Panic. You've got temporary hearing loss._

 _Will be back in a couple of days._

 _Balance will be off._

The writing was clearly Ami's and she let out a small sigh at that, trying to recall what in the name of Serenity had even happened. She was down at the port when some ass decided they a fight was necessary. She recalled the cut into her wrist and raised her arm to look at it and was surprised at what she saw. Around her arm, with the sleeve rolled up, was the yellow fabric Minako kept tied around her waist. It must have been Ami's choice to use it as the injury wasn't awful.

Despite this, the injury still had a burning sensation to it and she frowned. She didn't recall anything after shooting the guy in the face. It was concerning to be missing a chunk and not know how long you were unconscious or why.

Every so cautiously, she pulled herself into a sitting up position, only to be met with Minako at the end of the bed. She was leaned back against the wall of the ship and her head tilted forward as she slept. Her hair was down, which was unusual, and she noted the bandage across her face with the swelling. Someone at the port fight must have nicked her across the face.

For some reason, that thought and image made Rei's blood boil and she had no idea why. It wasn't a serious injury, obviously. Not only that, she never felt this way before when anyone else on her ship was injured.

Next, she addressed the rest of the room to see it was empty, but someone had clearly slept in the bed across the way as the sheets and blankets were thrown every which way. Then she looked back at Minako again. Why was she sleeping sitting up at the end of her bed?

It was then she realized something. Even in her sleep, Minako was incredibly tense, like she was constantly waiting for something to go horribly wrong. Initially she thought the stiffness was due to being on a ship with her crew, but seeing her asleep proved otherwise. Perhaps it was the constant stress of being a Navy Commander that caused her to be on edge, it was a possibility. At the same time, Rei had a fair number of run ins with other Navy crews and while they were serious, none were quite like this.

Her eyes trailed from Minako's hand up to her face again as she leaned forward to look at her. Her eyebrows were furrowed together, as if in a nightmare and it seemed like she was grinding or clenching her teeth together. That made Rei frown. It was a look that made Minako looks less attr-.

She immediately cut that thought off with a scowl. She was not about to say this girl was attractive, no way in hell. The only reason she was on her ship is that letting her go with her location known was a liability and given the current circumstances, would also probably get her killed. Instead, she reached forward to shake her shoulder.

"Wha—" Minako jolted awake and immediately grabbed the hand on her shoulder firmly, ready to break it or throw whoever it was off of her until she was met face to face with a pair of stunning amethyst eyes. "Rei?"

"Can't hear still." Rei wasn't sure if her volume was too quiet or too loud, but she tried to talk like she normally did. "How long have I been out?"

Minako went to talk and frowned a bit. How was she supposed to convey this without any pen or paper around her? Her next best guess was to hold fingers up for hours and held up nine of them.

"Nine hours!?" Rei watched Minako nod, mortified. She moved to get up in a rush and found herself unable to balance and slammed right into the support beam with a grunt, holding onto it. No wonder Ami was always concerned about being too close to the cannons and ear damages they could cause if this was the result.

She felt Minako's arm come around her and support her and had to clench her teeth hard. Rei hated to accept help, it made her weak. If she didn't accept this help, she was going to wind up dragging herself across the ship to the maps she had bought and somehow, that thought was more mortifying than a Navy Commander helping her walk.

"I need to get to Haruka and the maps." Getting a nod in response, they slowly moved their way across the ship.

* * *

Makoto was thankful to be up and moving, although her hand was still hurting. With nothing going on and unable to do any work on the ship, she found herself above the deck, just watching the ocean and cloudy skies. Sometimes it could be exhausting to see nothing but the same sighs of never ending water, but there were times it was the utmost relaxing thing. It didn't carry the loud noise that the cities did for sure.

Taking in a deep breath, she closed her eyes for a moment before opening and continuing to just watch the ocean, leaned against the railing with no thoughts in particular. It was when she felt a hand on her arm that she jumped and looked over.

"Ami?"

"…Are you okay, Makoto?"

Well that was concerning. Ami usually avoiding her full name when it was just them unless it was a pretty serious situation or they were in bed together.

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"I was…I was steady calling your name and you didn't respond." She watched Ami frown. "Maybe I gave you too much of the medicine…"

"No, sorry I was just…thinking, that's all."

"About what?"

Makoto was silent for a moment. She had really had no thoughts on her mind at all, but she needed Ami not to worry any more than she already was. "My parents." That was still the wrong topic to choose, but the only one that would work in this situation.

"Mako…"

"I know. I can't do anything now." She smiled a little at Ami, thought her eyes didn't meet it. "Doesn't mean I don't think about them time to time."

Suddenly she found herself pulled into a hug and wanted to resist, but instead simply rested her forehead down onto Ami's shoulder. She really did miss her parents, had wondered what her life would be like if they were still around.

"Besides, if they were still here, I would have never met you." She felt Ami stiffen at that one. "That's a good thing, please don't take it the wrong way."

"I'm glad I met you too, but…I still wish it hadn't gone that way for you."

"And yet here I am. Called a pirate in this day and age when that's the thing that—" Her words were cut off by Ami putting her hand over her mouth.

"Makoto." Okay so maybe that was pushing a boundary she shouldn't cross that often lead her into a depressed state and Ami had seen it happen on more than one occasion. "You don't have to explain anything, I know. I understand." Ami's words softened on her last words as she pulled her hand away.

"I saw Rei earlier." A change in subject was critical. "She okay?"

"Yes. She said she still can't hear and Minako had to help her walk…." It was like Ami was suddenly far away, Makoto realized. She wasn't able to focus on whatever she was saying as she talked about Rei's condition and whatever else was going on.

"Makoto!"

"What!?" She jumped at the sudden yelling, only to see Ami looking even more concerned and leaning into her face, looking at her closely. "Is there something on my face?"

"Did..Did you hear anything I just said?"

"You said Rei was fine."

"What else?"

"Uh…." Well that was a question she couldn't answer.

"Are you sure it was just your hand you hurt? You didn't get hit across the head or anything?"

"Just my hand, that's it. I swear to you Ami, nothing else happened. No other nicks or cuts, not even a single scratch outside of my hand. What makes you ask that?"

"….Because your eyes were glazed over and you were nonresponsive." Something about the situation was making Ami uncomfortable. "Rei did the same thing, only she attacked Minako. Did you have any nightmares? Any hallucinations after waking up?"

"No, none of either. I woke up and came right up here to get some fresh air. And then you came up."

Boy if she thought Ami looked dumb founded before.

"You haven't moved from here since you came above the deck?"

"No. Woke up like twenty minutes ago and-"

"Makoto, love. You woke up two hours ago." Ami was most certainly concerned now. So was Makoto. She ran her hand over her face for a moment.

"Maybe I just need some more rest. With everything that happened, I might not be fully rested yet." It was plausible and she didn't want to think anything awful was going on. "Could be the medicine, maybe?" She had hoped.

"Do you want me to go lay down with you?"

"I'll be fine. Rei might need the extra hands with everything going on and since she's on maps, I can't help anyways since I can't write stuff down." She smiled a little. "Just come in and check on me and when it's bed time you can rest with me, okay?"

Ami was hesitant, she clearly didn't feel comfortable leaving Makoto alone given the situation.

"I'm just sleeping, Ami. I'll be fine." Leaning down, she gave her a quick kiss and walked around her and below the deck into their room, Ami watching her disappear the entire time, speaking only one soft word of concern.

"Mako…"


	11. Day Two

_"Hand over all you have and no one gets hurt." The voice was gruff, only suited to a pirate of course. And what's a pirate and his threat without a hostage? The knife was so close to the woman's throat that you could see the line of blood being drawn. Makoto could only watch in horror from where she'd been trapped inside the cabin and the door jammed._

 _"That's all we have! Please, I beg you, let go of my wife…" The sadness and fear in her father's voice was too real, it was echoing the back of her skull._

 _Then there was the pure red and the loud thud that took ages to come around as a sound, as her mother fell to the ground, gasping for air, hand clutching at her throat as blood poured from the gash the pirate had caused._

 _"Whoops. My hand slipped."_

 _"You BASTARD!" The rest was like slow motion. Her father pulled his pistol out to open fire only for the men behind the pirate that had slain her mother to open fire and fill his body with lead, leaving him to slump in front of the cabin door. Makoto made a small noise that couldn't be heard over the laughter came from the pirates as they left. She pushed on the door as hard as she could, trying to get out, trying to save them both._

* * *

Makoto awoke with a gasping breath, immediately putting her hand onto her chest. She looked over and realized Ami was asleep on her other arm, snuggled up close to her. A nightmare, a reliving of her parent's death. It was horrifying every time and she closed her eyes for a split second and had to open them back up, only able to see the blood pooling into the cabin she was stuck in for hours.

It was still late into the night and she knew she wouldn't get anymore rest. Slowly and carefully she untangled herself from Ami, giving her a pillow instead to cuddle up to, and walked out of their room and into the kitchen on the ship. She had to get her mind off the images, of what had happened. Maybe Ami was right months ago, maybe she did need help.

Letting out a breath she set to cooking things that would keep for a while. No one was up near this hour to be eating, she knew that. Bread it was. They needed some anyways. She poured flour into a bowl and then added the water and eggs and set to mixing it with her hands. It was then she realized something and yanked her hand out and stared at it. When did she even take the bandages off? What had happened to the bright red scar on her hand?

How many days had she actually been sleep and what the hell was going on? She felt the need to talk to Ami and wrapped the base mixture up carefully and cleaned her hands heading back towards the room when something in the hallway stood out to her. Something that should not have existed.

* * *

Ami was up within two seconds of hearing the scream and out into the hallway to see Makoto curled up against the wall of the ship and her face in her hands.

"Makoto!?" She ran over and went to grab her hands when she stared at the one that should have been wrapped up. "Love, look at me."

Makoto could only shake her head in fear as a small sob escaped the back of her throat and Ami realized she was crying. She tried her best to analyze the situation. She didn't think Makoto had been up for very long and had frown after recalling their discussion yesterday.

"Did you have a nightmare?" All she got was a nod in response. "Oh…" She pulled Makoto down into her arms who just sank into Ami's shoulder and clutched onto her sleeping shirt for dear life, shaking like she had seen a ghost. "Why did you scream? You need to talk to me. Does your hand hurt?"

Makoto shook her head no in response. "My….I…" A gasping breath as she clutched tighter. Much more and Ami was sure she was going to suffocate. "They were…at the stairs…"

"Your…parents?" She felt Makoto stiffen up and frowned, slowly pulling back to wipe the tears off Makoto's face. She looked so small, so terrified. "Can you walk? Perhaps it's best not to do this in the hallway where others may show up."

Thankfully that was convincing enough to get Makoto up and into their room, sitting on the edge of their bed, though Makoto looked ready to have another break down. They needed a change in conversation immediately. She picked up Makoto's hand to look at it.

"When did you unwrap your hand?"

"I..I don't know…Maybe in my sleep? I woke up with it like that…"

Ami frowned. "Let me go get my kit, okay? I think we can take your stitches out." She was swift to grab it, too afraid to leave Makoto unattended given recent circumstances. "It's going to hurt a little." And with that, she set to the task of removing the stitches.

She turned to toss the thread into the trash can she kept in their room and by the time she had turned around, the holes were nearly gone and she could only stare in silence.

"Ami.."

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry..I..I woke up I was trying not to and-"

"Shhh. It's okay, Mako. I'm here for you, nightmares and all." She raised her hand and gently stroked Makoto's cheek. "I think it might be best if you avoided the others today. I'm not needed so I can stay with you."

Makoto nodded hesitantly as she wrung her hands together like anything could go wrong at any time. Ami noted how pale and sick the girl looked and wanted her to rest, but asking her to do that now was not only impossible, but would be a ridiculous statement. She looked over at some knocking at their door and stood up to answer it.

"Is everything okay?" It was Rei, the scream had obviously woken her up too and she noted Minako not too far behind her.

"Just..she had a nightmare. We'll both be staying in today to be safe…I'm really worried about her after yesterday." Then she paused and raised her eyebrows. "You can hear already?"

Rei grumbled a little.

"No. She can hear bits and pieces." Minako leaned over to speak for her, clearly Rei was embarrassed by the situation. "But she really has to focus. I sort of woke her up when I heard the scream to ask what was going on. Didn't realize where it came from."

"Mm…" Ami nodded a little. "You two should go back to sleep for now."

Minako nodded and tugged on Rei's sleeve and they both left. Ami returned to address Makoto, sitting down next to her.

"Do you…want to talk about it?" There was no way around the situation and Ami wasn't sure what the best suited path was at this point. Makoto wasn't going to sleep any time soon for sure and she wouldn't recommend it so soon after the nightmares and hallucination to begin with.

"I.." Makoto swallowed hard and shut her eyes tight. "N-no."

"Lay down with me? Not to sleep."

Getting a nod in response, she laid down and let Makoto settle down into her arms, though it was normally the other way around. She gently ran her fingers through Makoto's hair and softly hummed, deciding that later they would move to the library for a distraction once Makoto had calmed down.

* * *

Much later in the afternoon found Rei at the desk in the Captain's actual quarters, separate from her room, with Minako leaned up against the wall. Rei was looking over some maps she had bought that were updated compared to one's she had marked on previously as old pirate locations. However, after a while, she was finding Minako irritating.

Within the past ten minutes, she had shifted her legs at least twelve times and kept crossing and uncrossing her arms. Something was making her entirely uncomfortable and all the movement was distracting Rei.

"What's bothering you." It was a statement rather than a question, she had no patience.

"Nothing is bothering me."

Rei cut her eyes up to meet Minako's before she sat the map down. She couldn't look and focus well enough to hear. Thankfully majority of her hearing had already returned, but it still took some effort on her part to pay attention. "Really?"

"Yes." Minako gave her an accusing look.

"You keep crossing and uncrossing your arms, shifting your legs, tensing your muscles. Those are clearly signs that something is bothering you."

Minako looked almost offended at being caught before she snapped her head away. "What's it matter to you?"

"Because you don't relax ever. Not even in your sleep."

"You're watching me sleep!? What are you, some creeper!?" Minako turned slightly red at the thought Rei watching her sleep.

"No! When I woke up yesterday on the ship and you were asleep at the foot of the bed! You were tense then too. Clenching your teeth and everything. Like something was going to go wrong."

Minako stiffened up and looked down at the ground, clenching her teeth just as she had done in her sleep. "Why should I tell you?"

Rei let out a noise of frustration followed by a sigh. "Forget I even asked. God you're impossible to talk to."

That seemed to hit a nerve as Minako tensed up hard and shut her eyes before opening them again. "We trade. I tell you this, you tell me something in return."

"And just what on earth could you want to know from me? You know nothing about me."

"…How come you became a pirate." Minako looked up at her. "How come your Father put a hit out on you."

Boy if looks could kill, Aino Minako was sure that Rei would set the world on fire with the look she got with the last of her words. "Mine is just as personal. But not here. One of our rooms. Anyone can walk in here, but they avoid your room more than mine."

Rei was skeptical at first, but sighed. "…Fine. But if I don't like where it goes, the conversation stops."

"It goes both ways."

With that, they both moved into Rei's room, where she locked the door and sat her hat down on the dresser in there and took her boots off, sitting on her bed. Minako followed suit.

"First you explain to me why you're so damn tense."

Minako seemed to think on it for a while, Rei assumed she was trying the best way to phrase whatever the issue was.

"How many female commander's have you known in the Navy? Ever?"

"Two or three, maybe. Personally that I've seen? You and one other."

"So how do you think we're treated when we get the rank that a man thinks they deserve." Minako looked over at her with such a hated look in her eyes. "Every turn I made, I had to watch my own back, even with my own men. They hated me for getting to this position, despite how hard I worked. Despite it being under orders."

"Orders?"

"…From.." Minako paused, unsure if it was good to say. "From the Queen herself."

"…Queen Serenity told you to become a commander of the Navy." Rei was of course, unable to believe this. It was way too specific.

"Yes…" She looked down at her hands and Rei noticed some slight scaring on them from holding a sword incorrectly. "Not in those specific terms, but…she personally reached out to my Mother and told them that I was required to join the Navy under orders of Queen Serenity herself and should it be ignored, well…it's the Queen. You don't ignore her orders. So I left and joined. I had to fight my way up through the ranks from a dishwasher, to cleaning the deck, everything. I had to teach myself combat and how to use a gun. I had no idea how to do any of it and none of the men would show me."

"Shocking…" Rei tried to mumble the words to herself.

"So when I had my back turned, they would..hit me, or fire off a gun near me to scare me. Some wanted to fight me. I got into a lot of fights, lost a lot of them at first. I had to work through it all to get my own ship just for some asshole second in command to mutiny me, which is just fitting to the whole situation."

"So..basically you're tense all the time because you're waiting for someone to jump you?" It was reasonable, Rei could understand it given all the information.

"Yes."

"Even though no men are on the ship?"

"Haruka…."

"Is still a female. And usually away from most of us."

"How did she wind up on your ship."

Rei opened her mouth and shut it, turning red in a touch of anger for a moment. "We ported and when we left, she was just on the ship. Said the ocean was calling to her and we got into a fight. She sort of…kicked my ass. Makoto had to put her into her place."

"…The drunk one kicked your ass?"

"She wasn't drunk when we fought okay! That's not even part of our deal!"

"Okay okay!" Minako backed off and tilted her head, watching Rei closely. "So…your Dad."

Immediately Rei tensed up and looked away, gripping her hands into fists onto the sheets of her bed. "Worthless."

"Even though he's one of the highest ranking Navy officers?"

"It's a stupid fucking title. He didn't always have it. He doesn't care about others."

"What happened?"

Rei went silent for a while. She hadn't spoke on this matter in several years, last to Makoto and Ami and even then it was awful to talk about.

"My…" Already a swallow. "My Mother and I were out on a trip. We stopped in a port to pick up supplies and pirates flooded the ship and stole it with several of us still on board. The Navy knew it, they were right there at the damn docks. My Dad was on that damn ship!" Her voice was raised and cracked just a notch.

"The men fought back, but were no match for the brutal tactics they were using. They didn't care who lived or died. They wanted money. If they knew someone was rich, they made a good hostage. They…They found out my Mom's name was Hino and instantly related it to my Dad." Rei lowered her head, the tears were starting to come and it was shameful to shed them. She didn't want to let them go but felt one hot tear streak down her cheek.

"So they held me still while they killed her in front of me. Stabbed her thirty-seven times before putting a bullet in her head right in front of me. Threw me overboard after, but I found some wood and managed to survive until I got found by another boat." The tears were pouring down her face now.

"Rei…" Minako's voice was soft and she wasn't sure what to do.

"So when I got to land I vowed to take care of every fucking pirate myself since the Navy wouldn't do it. They wouldn't help. My Dad never searched for me, didn't know I was alive until word got around that I was eliminating pirates and tarnishing his name by removing them myself rather than the Navy. So he decided making sure his daughter was dead too was a better option than admitting to his own faults of having his wife killed." Her voice really cracked at the end and she brought a hand up to try and wipe the non-stop tears away.

Minako hadn't expected such a dark story. Rei always seemed so bold and confident, strong, in her decisions. She never seemed to second guess herself, like she had no weakness from the time she had met her. Even back when Rei first saved her she didn't hesitate. Because Minako was an innocent, just like Rei's mother had been.

All she could do on instinct was to reach forward and pull Rei into her arms, meeting some resistance initially before Rei just gave in and let it all out, every bit of saved emotion from several years. Tears over her lost mother. Minako had to do something to soothe the situation and calm Rei down, so she sang.

Thankfully it seemed to be working and she shifted so Rei was laying down as she sang, trying to lull her into a sleep and succeeding after several minutes. It seemed everyone on Rei's ship had a terrible past, though Minako felt as though hers was nothing in comparison.

* * *

Chapter 12 is gonna bring in a lot of fun with something most people probably don't expect!

This is by far the darkest chapter I've done yet, but it was set up to go this way. :)


	12. Day Three

Rei awoke to extreme warmth, the kind that made it where you didn't want to get out of bed on a cold winter's day after you'd finally gotten your bed warmed up. Or when you fell asleep in front of a fireplace after a nice cup of coffee. She let out a content noise and snuggled further into the warmth, pausing when she felt something move on top of her leg. What the fuck?

Her eyes snapped open and she was immediately met with the wall next to her bed. Slowly she looked down and saw an arm and a leg draped across her body and swallowed hard before thankfully realizing she was at the very least, still dressed. God did her eyes feel sore though, like she had been-.

Immediately Rei sat up and send the other body, Minako she realized, right to the floor.

"What the fuck!?" Minako rubbed her elbow where it collided with the wooden floor of the ship. "What the hell is your problem?"

"Mine!? Why the hell are YOU in MY bed!" Rei's face turned red instantly from a combination of what she had said mixed with the fact that her body would have been content to continuing laying there, body tangled with Minako's.

"Well you fell asleep and wouldn't let me go!"

Rei dragged a hand over her face and let out a sigh, looking down at her wrinkled shirt with distaste. She tried to straighten the wrinkles out of it as if Minako weren't on her floor.

"Well?"

"Well what?'

"Where's my apology?"

"For what?"

"You THREW me out of the bed!" Well clearly Minako was offended.

Rei leaned over the bed right into Minako's face, the retort coming out of her mouth without thinking. "Just because you can sleep your way around the Navy, doesn't mean you can do it on my ship." The next thing she registered was a sharp pain across her face and when she blinked the stars out of her eyes, Minako was standing up. Apparently she'd slapped Rei.

"You're no better than the rest of them. Fuck you." With that, Minako stormed out, leaving a rather confused Rei before she registered what she had said paired with the conversation last night.

All she could do was groan and put her face into her hands. Perfect. Maybe if she was lucky, Minako wouldn't hate her for the rest of her life, just most of it. How do you even apologize for that kind of thing? She let out a tired sigh and ran a hand through her hair, pulling back to look at the yellow fabric still around her wrist and frowning.

"Rei! We've got a problem!" Great, that's what she needed this morning, to hear Haruka yelling about problems. Resigning to her fate, she pulled her boots back up, slid on her long trench coat, and pulled her hat on before walking up to the stairs to be met with a ship heading right for them.

"You've…got to be fucking kidding me." As if her day hadn't started out bad enough, there was not only a Navy ship heading at them, it was the damned Evening Star. Well here was Minako's chance to escape. Suddenly a frown tugged at Rei's lips. She could give Minako an out to go back to an entirely normal life, away from the insanity that was her ship. She deserved it after Rei had essentially called her out, assuming she slept around.

Her eyes traced over to Minako staring off the opposite side with her arms crossed, looking rightfully pissed off, even with the bandage across her face. Well if she was already mad, what harm could what she had planned do? Rei walked over to her with brisk steps, yanking the bow out of her hair.

"Hey-! What the!?" She was quick, yanking Minako's arms behind her back and securing them in place with the ribbon and kicking her in the back of the knees and down. "What the fuck!? Let me go!"

Suddenly the Navy ship was upon them and there was that idiot with the white hair. Rei drew her sword out and shoved it against Minako's throat to silence her. She couldn't risk anything getting messed up here.

"You're rather stubborn and stupid."

"I see your ship didn't sink. That's a real shame, but all the same, I'd be glad to bring you in alive so I can watch you hang in person." The man's eyes traced down to Minako. "Is this a threat?"

"Perhaps. You did abandon her and turn your ship to open fire. You did succeed in sinking the other ship, but she survived. Leave us be and I'll let her go."

The man chuckled, god was he irritating to listen to. "You want us to stop chasing after you for her?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh nothing." He smirked as he moved from his ship over to Rei's, several Navy crew following him. Rei felt Haruka at her back, but had no idea of Makoto's or Ami's position and given what occurred the night before, wasn't sure she could count on them to back her up.

"Get off my ship."

"Your ship? I do believe this belongs to the Navy, despite you trying to rename it."

"Not anymore it doesn't. Navy didn't care before. It just sat in a port unused for months."

"That's admitting to theft you know. Theft, threatening a Navy officer, use of violence..my you're catching quite the record today."

"God you're annoying to listen to. Do you ever shut up?"

His eyes trailed down to Minako again and Rei saw him smile in delight, like he was getting ready to lay her across his bed and have his way with her. She had to tighten her grip on her sword as that mental image made her sick and mad at the same time.

"How about you just hand her over and then we'll negotiate?"

"And how do I know you won't report her as leaving the Navy?"

"I'm offering to take her back, aren't I?"

Rei didn't have much of a choice and clenched her teeth hard. She pulled her sword away and yanked Minako up, kicking her towards Ace, who caught her and pulled her against him in a way that clearly made Minako entirely uncomfortable.

"Negotiations are over I'm afraid. Kill them all."

"Fuck." Rei raised her sword, ready to go when she heard a loud bang and watched one of the Navy men go down. Well that made her job easier. While they looked around for the source of the shot, Rei moved forward, slicing men down and trying to work her way towards Minako who seemed to be struggling and arguing with the man, yanking her back to the ship. Rei's sword clashed hard with the men, but they clearly hadn't stayed on top of their training as she was able to shove their wrists different directions to either disarm them, or allow her sword forward to stab into the throat.

Suddenly there was a loud whooshing noise to her left and she saw Makoto swinging her sword, though she looked incredibly tired, as though she weren't all there. Then she heard another bang and a missed shot. Ami was obviously distracted by Makoto's presence, which meant she was supposed to remain below the deck.

Her eyes locked with the man again as she got closer and she heard Minako yelling at him.

"Let me go Ace, you sleazy fucker! I'm not going back if I have to even think of sleeping with you!" So Ace was his name? Normally killing the Navy was against her policy, but this one was an exception to the rule.

"God you're so stubborn, you know that? You don't want to come back, fine. You're listed as traitor as it is anyways and I was looking forward to them slicing your head clean off to show women their place." Ace drew his dagger out and stabbed it right into Minako's right shoulder and Rei saw pure red in her rage.

She managed to extend her arm out far enough to cut the ribbon and free Minako's hands who immediately shoved Ace away and right towards Rei, allowing a straight shot and she didn't hesitate to shove her sword right through his heart.

"You know, I knew I didn't like you when I first saw you days ago. Now I know who you remind me of. My Father, who you can say hello to in hell when I send him there next." Rei lifted her foot and viciously kicked Ace off her sword and overboard. Did stabbing a guy trying to bed you and kicking him overboard work as an apology?

Looking behind her, Rei made sure the rest of the Navy that wasn't leaving the ship was taken care of by Makoto with her sword and Ami hidden away with her guns. Then she knelt down to Minako who was holding her shoulder to look at the wound.

"It's best we don't pull it out. Could start to cause a lot of blood loss and I can't get you moved currently."

"You fucking destroyed my bow."

"I'd like to think that's minimal compared to him stabbing you in the shoulder." Rei reached down to take the red sash off her belt and shoved it into Minako's hands. "There, replaced."

It was like Minako was too stunned to say anything as she stared at it.

"Sorry."

"For what?"

"I think you wanted to kill him, if I recall right. When he took your ship." Rei looked down at her from the on going fights. She could feel the urge to fight still screaming her blood and tried to ignore it, clenching and unclenching her fists. Minako's safety had to be a priority currently.

"I uh..No it's fine." Minako looked away. "He was going to kill me either way. Regardless of if I slept with him or not."

"That was all he wanted? Was to fuck you?"

"24/7."

"Gross." Once the battle cleared, Rei stood up. "Makoto, Haruka…dump the bodies, let the rest of the ship go free. They already think she's betrayed them so it doesn't matter. I'm taking Minako down to get this looked at."

"Yes Captain." Makoto gave her salute and slapped her on the back and Rei jolted away.

"Jesus fuck, Makoto. What have you been rubbing all over?"

"Huh?"

"It was like being shocked with lightning!"

Makoto looked down at her hand and blinked slowly a few times, wriggling her fingers. "Nothing but my bed sheets and clothes."

"Well stop rubbing all over them." Rei rubbed her shoulder gently. "Come on you." With that, she carefully helped Minako up and walked her below the deck, where they met up with Ami.

"So you did pay attention to some of my medical lessons."

"I paid attention to them all, Ami." Huffing, Rei sat Minako down on the bed and dug out the bloody towels, laying them out.

"Got any diseases?"

"Nope. Navy said I'm clean as a whistle. Please, feel free to yank it out and put me out of my misery though."

Rei raised her eye brows at that one, looking between the two and finally realizing the tension before sighing to her self. Minako and Ami hadn't been getting along since day one and she had enough on her plate to worry about. Not to mention Ami was probably on a short temper because of Makoto's condition and the lack of sleep. A loud yelp disturbed her thoughts.

"You just yanked it out of her!?"

"She told me to." Ami's reply was short and terse as she shoved dressing against the bleeding wound. "It's not even that bad, it was clean. Once the bleeding stops just some bandages and a sling for a couple weeks if that. Maybe just one week."

Minako groaned as she leaned forward in pain.

"How come you didn't numb her first?"

"Wouldn't have mattered as deep as it as. She doesn't need stitches, just a dagger. Sword, sure she'd have been lucky to be alive. I don't think he was really aiming."

"He never aims…he failed that part of the Navy. It's a miracle he could bed any woman and aim his dick—"

"OKAY." Rei put a stop to that one. "Patch her up then go back to Makoto. You, rest after she's done. I have to look over more maps since Minako gave me the location of regular Navy paths to avoid them for a long while after this incident." Getting a salute in reply from both, Rei walked off to spend some time thinking alone in her Captain's quarters.


	13. Day Four

Ami had demanded that everyone who was injured was in what had been decided as the official infirmary since Minako took the old one as her own room. That meant that everyone but Haruka was present in the room, though Minako hadn't left since the night before given how intense her injury was. Something was going on and Ami was going to figure just what the hell it was.

First was the zoning out that both Makoto and Rei had experienced and didn't recall or realize. On top of that, Rei had actually attacked Minako without even knowing and her last recalled detail was the fight at the port. Then Makoto wasn't sleeping at night, just laying there most times not to disturb Ami, but she was aware of it constantly. Minako was about the only one acting normal at this point.

"You first, Makoto. Let me see your hand." Without waiting, she grabbed Makoto's hand looked over it. It was entirely unnatural for it to be entirely healed like it was. She expected at least ten days minimum with the stitches and another few weeks up to two months of full motion of movement. She didn't speak as she twisted and bent Makoto's wrist, listening for a noise of discomfort or glancing up at her face for a twitch of pain.

"None of this is hurting you?"

"No."

Making a noise of concern, she let go of Makoto's hand and sighed. "I need to do a blood test."

"What? Why? I'm fine."

"That's just the problem. Your hand healed in TWO days, Makoto. I was expecting minimum a month. I need to test your blood to make sure you didn't get something that could be causing damage later. Now sit down and stick your arm out." Maybe she was being a bit aggressive, but Ami was beyond irritated that she had no explanation.

"Maybe it's just some good ol' magic, Ami." The last thing she needed was Minako trying to be a smart ass.

"Or maybe it's a pathogenic disease that's slowly killing her."

"Excuse me?" Makoto squeaked in fear at that one and Ami groaned.

"That's the point of the test."

"What if I have one!? Am I going to die!?"

"You are not going to die." Ami wrapped the band around Makoto's arm firmly and let the vein raise as she got the rest of her tools out. "I'm just being safe is all."

Ami had actually expected Makoto to make some request like last time a needle was brought out, but looked up to see her sitting quietly, arm laid out and ready to go. Something was really up. She had been so distant for the past few hours like she wasn't all there. Once she got everyone checked out, this test was to be her priority.

"There's going to be a stick." Ami slid the needle in and watched the tube fill up with blood and took a second just to be extremely sure before pulling a bandage out and then she stopped and looked Makoto's arm where the needle still was.

"…Ami?"

"Don't move your arm while I take this out." She sat the bandage down and making sure to watch very closely, she pulled the needle out and ignored the blood that came out with it and her eyes could only widen as she watched it close within a minute. What the hell?

"Earth to Ami?"

"Hm?"

"You uh…there's blood all over me."

"Oh! Sorry!" Ami actually pulled on a pair of gloves this time, cleaning the blood up off Makoto's arm and stepped back. "You're good to go."

"Sure?"

"Positive. I'll let you know when I know something."

"Okay. I'll go cook us some lunch."

Ami's smile softened at that and she nodded. There was nothing quite like looking forward to a lunch from Makoto. Or any meal. Or any food.

"Okay Rei, your turn. Shirt off."

"My shirt?"

"I need to check your shoulder and side too. It's easier this way."

Sighing, Rei pulled her jacket off and then unbuttoned her shirt, pulling it off.

* * *

Minako had seen a lot of good looking people, women even, in her life time. She'd had experiences with them in the past as well. To say she was expecting to ever see Rei's upper body in just a bra would be entirely wrong. But bless whatever deity decided that she would be graced with such a sight.

Immediately she noticed how toned she was, which meant she kept up with her combat and work outs for sure and didn't slack. It also meant she did a lot of the ship work as well instead of just sitting behind the desk and giving commands. And god that purple bra was such a perfect color for her paler flesh that was hidden from the sunlight. The ample chest she had was most certainly a bonus.

Finally her eyes were drawn to the injuries and scars. She noted that the stitches on her side were still in place, but it looked much better. Then her eyes went up to her shoulder where a giant bandage was at, from where she had cut Rei open before being shoved out of the way. However, Rei had been fighting and moving like she wasn't injured at all, a common tactic seen by Commanders or leads. You never let your crew or the enemy know just how hurt you were.

When she leaned forward, Minako caught sight of a scar that seemed to start at Rei's left shoulder and go down towards her right hip, though she couldn't say how far down it went. Apparently there was a lot she didn't know about Rei.

* * *

"I think we can take the stitches out." Ami sat down next to her and picked a pair of small scissors up, carefully removing the four stitches she had put into place and tossing the thread into her growing pile of trash. "Yeah this healed really nice."

"See I do listen."

"Sometimes. It's still going to be a little tender since I took those out. The holes will heal on their own so just make sure to keep it cleaned, but don't soak it in water—"

"We live on the sea."

"You know what I mean." Next Ami moved to the bandage on her shoulder and frowned.

"Okay, in my defense, we were attacked at the port AND by the Navy."

"Why didn't you say something?" She carefully peeled the large bandage off and sighed at the blood.

"You were busy. I was busy."

"When will you come up with a new excuse?" She picked up her cleaning supplies and while cleaning it, made sure to put extra pressure on it to make her point.

"Ow!" Rei tried to pull away, but Ami had a tight grip on her. "Okay okay!"

"This will take longer than I thought to heal up because of that. If you behave and don't over use it, I won't have to put you into a sling. I want you to move it, but very carefully. If it hurts, come tell me."

"Well it fuckin' hurts."

"Your fault." Once it was cleaned up, she applied a new bandage.

"What about my wrist?" Rei held her wrist still wrapped in the yellow fabric.

"Your…wrist?"

"I..uh..you didn't?"

"Your wrist was hurt!?" Ami almost tore the fabric off to look at the cut. It was red, possibly from movement. It had been wrapped up really well with the fabric and when she looked at it, she realized it as Minako's and cut her eyes over to her.

"When I came back in later I saw it. Didn't think it was a big deal so I wrapped it up."

Ami bit her tongue hard. Minako was trying to do the right thing and she had tended to the injury, but Ami absolutely hated not being aware of every situation. The last thing they needed right now was Ami and Minako trying to kill each other.

"It's fine. Just…next time let me know. You should be fine to leave it uncovered now, Rei. You check out fine physically."

"Pardon? Physically?"

"Well I just…you don't remember anything from part of the port until you woke up at a later time, right?"

"Well no. I told you I didn't. I remember shooting the guy in the face and that's it."

"You don't remember walking out of the explosion?"

"Explosion?" Rei cut her eyes over to Minako who was red in the face and it took her a second to realize why. Scrambling, Rei pulled her shirt on, her face heating up at realizing how much Minako had been staring without her realizing. "What explosion?"

"Oh!" Snapping out of it, Minako looked Rei in the eyes finally. "Yeah they brought their ship up and fired at the port. You were around a lot of gun powder and we were sure you'd died. When we moved to get onto the ship, you happened to grab onto Makoto."

Rei frowned at that before look at Ami again. "What else?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"Yes."

"Well you sure as shit slammed my face into the support beam and split my nose open." Minako was at least graceful enough to save Ami from having to explain that one.

"I thought that happened at the port!"

"Nope. You woke up screaming and stumbled out of the bed and fell. When I reached down to help you, you yanked my arm and my face met wood. It really hurt, just so you know."

Rei groaned and put her face into her hands.

"Have you had any other black out moments?"

"No. I remember everything after waking up I guess the second time."

"Hearing?"

"Fine. I can hear everything again just fine. No ringing, no muffled noises, no pain."

Ami seemed skeptical of Rei for several long moments before sighing and nodding. "You're clear. Take it easy though, I mean it. You're going to kill my new medical kits."

Rei rolled her eyes at that and finished buttoning her shirt up and worked on pulling her jacket on while Ami switched over to Minako.

Groaning, Minako slowly sat up. To say she felt like she had been stabbed was totally accurate both metaphorically and physically. Even breathing was more painful than she was willing to admit.

"Rei."

Ami had just caught Rei right before she had left the room.

"Hm?"

"I need one of your shirts and a pair of your pants."

"…What?" Rei blinked at that, tilting her head to the side. "I'm taller than you, no way you would fit what I wear."

"Not for me, for Minako."

Rei turned to stare at Minako's back before it clicked. Her current shirt and jacket had a massive hole in it from the dagger and was soaked in blood, the pants however, confused her.

"Why the pants?"

"Because having someone even half dressed in Navy clothes is either to push the pirates you want to eradicate away, or welcome the Navy you don't want."

"Shirt and pants it is."

"Got any extra boots? Mine are kind torn up."

Rei went to retort and simply sighed. "I'll see what I can manage." With that, she left.

Ami peeled Minako's shirt off carefully, frowning at the blood that had soaked through the bandage. "It may have been clean, and he may not have aimed, but he still got you really good."

"You don't have to tell me. It hurts to breath. No, he didn't hit my lung so don't worry. I'd be coughing blood up by now."

Ami shook her head and pulled the bandage off, cleaning around the wound and inspecting it. Thankfully the dagger had been pretty brand new and never used, saving them all a lot of trouble.

"I'm going to tape it back up, but I'm going to put you into a sling. I think any excess movement will tear it back open and I don't want to resort to stitches for this if I don't have to."

"And if we have to fight?"

"I trust in your one-handed skills. Your sword only requires one hand as it is anyways."

Oh so she can compliment. Minako smiled at that a little and nodded while Ami worked on getting everything into place, finishing up with her shoulder and checking her nose right as Rei returned. "Your nose is good to go as well. It'll still be a little tender, but we can leave it uncovered. Shouldn't scar."

"The boots are kind of old, but still in a good condition. All I have are some extra red shirts and black pants."

"Bless your ship for having a taste in fashion because I've seen enough other pirate ships without any." Minako gratefully took the items as Rei passed them to Ami.

Rei tilted her head again as she stared at Minako's back. She was very muscular from what she could tell, but that was it. Without a view from the frontside-.

What the hell was wrong with her lately? She had zero interest in what Minako looked like without a shirt on. It was embarrassing enough Minako had been staring at her chest earlier.

"Well it looks like everyone mostly checks out."

"Mostly?"

"Still need to test Makoto's blood. But I think lunch should be ready and it can wait another ten minutes. I'd rather not another cold meal."

Rei moved to help Minako up off the bed and they moved into the kitchen and dining room, all taking a place at the table, with Haruka already present and eating.

"Good timing!" Makoto took turns passing out a bowl of a stew to each person, giving Ami hers last with a small kiss to her temple.

It was incredibly heartwarming and Ami felt her shoulders relax for the first time since the morning checkup began. It returned immediately after the first bite of food. Ami knew Makoto's cooking style, tastes, and everything in between. This didn't taste right, but when she looked around the table, everyone else was eating like nothing was wrong.

"Makoto."

"Yes?"

"You already ate?"

"Yeah, right after it finished, why?"

Ami held back a frown as she shook her head and continued to eat. It's not that the food was bad, just that it was off. It wasn't at its maximum potential that Makoto was able to carry when it came to cooking.

The blood test, she determined, would be started immediately after she ate and she would stay up all night to analyze every square inch that she could on the ship.

* * *

Another really long chapter! Day Five is a super scary day to say the least!


	14. Day Five

Makoto had been feeling the need to spar since late into the night and felt thankful when Haruka agreed. Her shoulders felt far too tensed up, as if she had been angry for days. So at 10 A.M., she met Haruka up on the deck near the railing for their practice.

"You still need to work on your right hook. Relax some, you're too tense. You aren't moving nearly as quickly as I know you can." Haruka dodged another punch and tapped Makoto in the stomach. Rei had a strict rule that no one was to injure another person when practicing in the event they were attacked. Taps counted as strikes.

"I am relaxed." Huffing out, Makoto took stance again. They had been at it for two hours and she had managed all of three hits in on Haruka, who had a score of thirty seven now. It was frustrating to her and she tried to focus simply on Haruka, trying to block blows and land her own. So much so that she instantly reacted when she felt another hand on her.

Reaching, she flipped the person over her shoulder and straight over the edge of the ship. Thankfully, Haruka reacted and caught their arm and Makoto had to cringe. She had just thrown Ami towards the ocean and watching her back impact against the side of the ship was painful. Haruka pulled her over, looking concerned.

"Are you okay?"

Ami nodded, trying to get her breath back that was knocked out of her.

Makoto frowned and clenched her fists. Haruka was all over Ami, checking her back under her shirt. Words flashed across Makoto's mind.

 _"The only time I've ever seen a crew member, outside of you, missing clothes, is when I've been fixing them up."_

But what did that say for others undressing Ami and them giving her pleasure in return for fixing them up? Makoto clenched her teeth together hard.

"Mako?" Ami was suddenly in front of her and she looked down at her. "I was wondering if you would come to the room with me?"

It was clear what Ami was suggesting. They hadn't slept together since Minako's arrival with everything going on. Ami must have been incredibly stressed out if she was asking not in a form of privacy, but in a way that averted suspicions from the rest of the crew. Makoto, however, was not interested.

"No."

"…I'm sorry, what?" Ami was clearly started by that, and so was Haruka it seemed.

"I'm busy."

"It's okay Makoto. We can pick this back up later." Haruka was trying to put the fire out on the situation that seemed to be going on.

Rolling her eyes, Makoto shook her head. "I said no."

Ami stared for a moment before reaching out to gently touch Makoto's arm, but she would have none of it. She grabbed her hand and pushed her back. "What part of no don't you get? Some genius."

"Makoto!" Haruka yelled at her for that one, catching Ami to keep her from falling. "What the hell is your problem?"

"My problem? Why don't you go to the bedroom with Ami. You've probably been fucking her anyways."

"Excuse me." Ami's tone turned cold at that one. Did Kino Makoto seriously just accuse her of sleeping around?

"I'm not stupid, Ami. You sleep with everyone else on the ship. They probably get you off after you patch them up as payment. Whatever, I'm done here." Makoto turned to walk off but suddenly was yanked backwards by Ami. "Let me go!"

Ami whirled Makoto around and suddenly it was like the air got icy cold, similar to the look Ami was giving Makoto. However, her cold eyes weren't what got her attention. It was the tears and the heart break that lay beyond that. Why in the hell had she said any of that? Ami had been nothing but devoted to her, in and out. Even with her nightmares as of late.

"You sorely have underestimated me and the kind of person I am. If I'm of such little value to you, then you're just as of little to me. I could care less about what your blood tests have to say."

"So what, you'd rather I die?"

"It'd be just as heartbreaking as now. What difference would it make?"

"You'd be a murderer. Then again, I guess you are one, with how you killed your Comma—" Makoto's next words off by a sharp slap from Ami.

"Fuck you." Ami's words were sobs at this point as she moved to walk around Makoto, who grabbed by the arm hard. "Let me go."

Makoto moved to return the hit to Ami but in the middle of her turn, she saw stars and had to blink several times to clear her vision, registering pain on the left side of her face. When she was finally able to see, she was face to face with Rei, who was holding her collar and looked beyond pissed off.

"It seems I need to remind you of some rules of my ship." Rei forced Makoto to turn around and slammed her into the mast of the ship. "Like getting along with everyone, which you broke. And let's not forget not injuring teammates."

"You mean like you slamming Mina's face into the ship post?" There was another set of stars in her vision, though this one lasted much shorter. Reaching up, Makoto felt blood on her lip and registered that Rei had punched her again.

"I don't know who the hell you think you are, but I'm in command here. I won't take your back talking. Now I don't know if you're started your period or bashed your head this morning, but you'd better start working really quick on getting your attitude set straight."

"Rei it—"

"Ami." The word was short and the point and held enough of a threat that Ami stepped back, knowing where this was going to go.

"What makes you all high and mighty as the leader anyways?" Makoto glared at Rei. "I'm taller than you, stronger than you. I should be the leader. Just because you're a Daddy's girl of the Navy doesn't mean shit."

"You think you can run this ship better than I can? That you're better than me?"

"Yeah. All you do is fucking fight pirates. Why when we can do so much more?"

Rei held Makoto in place for a long while before pushing away from her and pulling her jacket off, followed by her belt. "Then I'll have to both prove you wrong, and knock the shit out of you for calling me what you did."

Makoto stepped away from the post and raised her arms to fight.

* * *

Rei really had hoped it wouldn't become a physical situation, but based on what she had seen and heard, she knew there was no choice. She had been in her Captain's quarters when she saw everything start and had thankfully made it in time to stop Makoto from actually hitting Ami. Something was up, Ami had been right about that. Makoto was never aggressive like this, nor did she say these kinds of things. For now though, it was a kick ass situation, ask questions later.

The thing about Rei was that she was very quick in her movements and extremely good at analyzing her opponents and she already knew how Makoto fought. Not to mention she was so tense that any movement she made would be clear before it was done by the way she tensed up more before the action. She didn't even assume a fighting stance, just to serve to irritate Makoto more.

It apparently worked because within a minute, Makoto swung at her and Rei dodged it, moving into land a punch on Makoto's ribs. She really had to avoid breaking anything or doing anything too damaging. They had enough injured on the ship as it were and Rei already had her shoulder to be concerned about. The next swing was a kick, where Rei caught her foot and pulled hard, sending Makoto right onto her ass and pissing her off even more.

"You're not doing very well, Makoto." Rei sighed and ran a hand through her hair as Makoto stood back up and charged her. Rei expected a right hook and instead was met with a hard hit into her injured shoulder that caused her to hiss in pain and buckle down to one knee. Makoto continued to press down on it with intense pressure. Instantly, Rei could feel the blood and numbness in her arm. Well that wasn't good. She had to end this, quickly.

Taking a deep breath, she forced herself upwards and caused Makoto to stumble back. Then she reached forward, grabbed Makoto's arm, and threw her over her shoulder, right into the ocean in a way similar to how she had thrown Ami. She stepped over to the edge of the railing and stared down at her. It was clear Makoto knew she had lost and Rei watched her for a long while.

"Throw her a rope down, but don't help her up. Make her climb it." With that she stepped away.

* * *

"Rei…" Ami had grabbed her sleeve, a case of emotions and Rei knew it. "I..why…" Ami didn't understand why Rei had done all of that. She had no idea what had caused Makoto to even act that way.

"Why is she being this way…?"

"Her blood tests."

"I…"

"Are they done?"

Ami shook her head and pulled her hand away, feeling more tears fall, her vision too blurry to see the deck.

"Let me know what you find. Minako and I are looking into something that she heard about in the Navy." A pause for a brief moment. "Make sure I didn't hurt her too badly. When you're done, come check on me."

"I can-"

"It's her first." Rei finally turned to look at her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder despite the grimace she made of pain at the action. "I ask that you forgive her for what she said. We both know that isn't the Makoto we know and love. You already said she had signs of acting strange. I'm not asking you to share a room with her currently, but I need everyone to work together."

Hesitating for a slight moment, Ami nodded. "I…I-I'll try."

"Thank you." With that, Rei left Ami alone by herself for a few moments until she heard the sound of water hitting the deck. Clearly Makoto had made it back up. Did she really have the courage to go over and face her after all she had said? Ami felt completely broken by it all. Were these true feelings of how Makoto felt about her? Did she see Ami as a slut and a murderer?

She slowly looked over at the woman she truly did love. Makoto was slouched against the railing and looking down at her hands. It was hard to tell if she was crying due to all the water on her, but Haruka was watching her closely, obviously concerned. What was going on with the girl she was so deeply in love with? The very one she trusted every secret with and gave her heart to?

* * *

Makoto felt like total shit and that was putting it pretty damn politely. Her eye had started to swell from where Rei had punched her and her lip was stinging, but perhaps her pride as a fighter and dignity as a human were the most damaged part of her. Calling Ami stupid, suggesting she slept around? Going to strike her? Maybe she should have remained in the ocean instead. Drowning sounded like a much better path in her life after today. Slowly, she raised her hands and looked at them, feel like they were filthy. It was like the phrase "covered in blood" suddenly made sense, though hers didn't have blood on them.

She let them drop in her lap and continued to sit there, feeling each water droplet fall and hit the deck. She supposed she could sleep in the crow's nest from here on would be when it rained, which rainy season was coming up. Meant she would always be super clean at the very least. And she could cook meals for everyone in the dead of the night so she didn't have to face them.

It took her a moment to register someone drying her hair off and she looked up to see Ami quietly and patiently working on getting the water out of her hair. God she couldn't even look Ami in the eyes, choosing instead to look back at the floor, feeling her heart in her stomach.

"You'll catch a cold like this…."

The words were soft, but it was no real force behind them.

"I deserve worse. I should just go back over the railing." Makoto half mumbled the words as she sat there and let Ami dry her off.

"Let me see your eye and lip."

Makoto shook her head. "I'm fine."

"Mako…"

God did that pull at her heart and she had to force her eyes shut as the tears started to come. Reaching out, she grabbed onto Ami's arms and pressed her forehead into her shoulder, her body shuddering at the overwhelming emotions.

"I'm sorry…I didn't…god sorry isn't enough.." Her words were a total mess and Makoto had no idea how to apologize. "Something's wrong with me and I don't know what it is…I'm…" She swallowed at her next word. "Scared."

Makoto never admitted her fears to others. She faced them head on, with Ami at her side. When it made Ami her enemy though? She couldn't bear that.

"Listen to me, okay? I'm going to try and give you some medicine. It'll help you sleep and clear your mind…part of is where you haven't really slept in days and had delusions and nightmares. Then we'll go from there."

"Why…"

"Hm?"

"Why are you still so willing to help me?"

Ami forced her to look up, giving her a weak and strained smiled. "Because I still love you. We'll figure this out together. Step one is rest for you…and I think me too. This was…too much for my head to handle."

Makoto felt a fresh wave of tears start and she couldn't stop the sobbing that wracked her body as Ami held her. They would figure it out together.

* * *

So this chapter was a heavy one too! We're closing in on the end of all of this going on with Makoto, but it makes you wonder how it's resolved and what's going on with everyone, I hope!

Next chapter will be a more entertaining one!

R I P PD by the way.


	15. Day Six

_Makoto still feel awful for what she had said and done. She had been unable to find Rei to apologize to her properly, but Ami had told her that was for the better at the moment. What surprised her more, was that Ami wanted her to wait in their bedroom, still willing to share it, while she went to check in on Rei finally. Thankfully, Rei had only given her some lightly bruised ribs, a black eye, and a busted lip. All the same, Makoto had wished she had done worse that to just shame her pride._

 _She had no idea how long she was alone, but she was glad to see Ami return if only a little bit. The girl was clearly strained about the entire situation and looked like she hadn't been sleeping well either now that Makoto really took a look at her._

 _"_ _How…is Rei okay?"_

 _Ami took a deep breath in. "Sure you want to know?"_

 _"…_ _Probably not, but I should…"_

 _"…_ _I had to stitch her shoulder shut. The pressure you put down on it tore it open and she couldn't feel her arm. By the time I figured out where she was, she'd lost a fair bit of blood. Minako had managed to keep it from being worse though."_

 _"_ _Gods…" Makoto shuddered again and squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't deserve forgiveness from anyone on the ship. She deserved to be down in the brig for the rest of her life or ditched at the next landing. It wasn't as though she was the wanted criminal on posters, Rei made sure to avoid that for them should they ever want to leave._

 _"_ _She'll be fine, Mako." Ami walked in front of her. "She told me to tell you it's okay. As long as you understand everything that was wrong…"_

 _"_ _I don't understand…"_

 _"_ _Hm?"_

 _"_ _Why would any of you be willing to forgive me? I literally threw you off the ship, Ami."_

 _"_ _In your defense, I walked up on you while you were sparring."_

 _"_ _And what I said?"_

 _"_ _I won't defend that. But I also know that something is wrong and that you would never say those things. I've been with you for enough years to know that. I'm not going to lie and say all is well, because it's not. It's going to take some…time for everything to heal over."_

 _Makoto sighed and slouched even more, still really unable to look Ami in the face. She was tired physically, emotionally, and mentally at this point. Everything was too much, but she also felt like her brain wouldn't shut off. The next thing she knew, Ami had tilted her head up and was kissing her and god was that the best thing she'd felt all day._

 _Slowly, Ami pushed her back on the bed, straddling over her and swiping her tongue across Makoto's lips, who gratefully granted her access, only to feel another pill being slipped into her mouth that she was forced to swallow. Ami didn't stop the kiss after she swallowed this time, only stopping when they needed to breath._

 _"_ _That's still not fair…"_

 _"_ _I thought giving you a kiss was fair. I could have just given you the pill to take, you know."_

 _"_ _Won't you feel the effects of it from it being in your mouth?"_

 _"_ _Not much…normally."_

 _"…_ _Normally?"_

 _"_ _This is a pretty uh…strong pill. In the next ten minutes, you'll be knocked out. You shouldn't have any dreams or nightmares. The next thing you'll know is waking up sometime tomorrow—"_

 _"_ _Tomorrow!?"_

 _"_ _Yeah. Makoto, you haven't had a real night of sleep in days. This way I know you'll get some real rest and your body will function right. I'll sleep too, so don't worry. Then when I wake up I'll check on your blood tests." Makoto couldn't protest Ami sliding into her arms and pulling the blanket over them._

 _"_ _Ami?"_

 _"_ _Hmm?"_

 _"…_ _Thank you. I still love you and I'm still really really really sorry."_

 _"_ _I know, love. Sleep for now."_

 _It wasn't long before Makoto saw nothing but darkness._

* * *

Minako sighed as she stood outside of what was apparently Ami's lab. Normally she tried to avoid one on one situations with the girl since it was clear they didn't get along, which Rei sure didn't appreciate if the earful she got was any indication. It wasn't that she hated Ami, just that the girl didn't seem to trust her despite everything she had already done. She had been sent down here under the strict orders of finding out if Ami had found anything in the blood tests yet. Rei normally would have done it, but she was still too injured and didn't want to be seen around the ship in her current condition.

Minako remembered getting Rei into her room and having to take care of the injury. Blood had run down her back from where it was tore back open after it was almost done healing up and it looked so painful. Then Rei had remarked she couldn't even feel her arm, which made the situation that much worse. Thankfully Minako knew some first aid and was able to slow the bleeding to an almost stop until Ami could get in to check it out. Rei was in far more pain that she was showing and was still that way when she gave this order.

Finally giving in, Minako knocked on the door and stepped inside. Needless to say, she wasn't expecting an actual full on laboratory on a ship. Ami had flasks, bottles, liquids, powders, and everything in between in the room and different machines running. It took her a second to locate Ami and walk up to her.

"Rei wanted to know if you had found anything yet."

"No…All the tests are coming back clean. I haven't found any diseases of any kind that could cause the symptoms Makoto has been carrying."

Minako could tell that Ami was frustrated at not having answers. She had seen it the other day when she suggested that it was just some magic working. She knew to avoid saying that one ever again if she wanted to be patched up.

"What about something mental? From what I saw and Rei said, she had a total behavior change."

"I considered that. But that was the only real day of a behavior change. She's had spacing out, but that could be anything or the lack of sleep too. She told me she's had a lot of nightmares and can't sleep through them."

Minako sighed and leaned against the wall for a moment. She had the information she came down here for. It was bothering her, however, the entire situation. Ami had mentioned her hand healing at an accelerated rate, the spacing out, then yesterday to top it off. Something wasn't adding up and Minako was pretty sure it had happened after she was on the ship. Perhaps down at the port? But she hadn't been watching Makoto at the time, too busy defending her own self.

"Hey, Ami."

"What?"

"Down at the port, do you remember when I said Makoto almost sliced me in half? It was like she was out of then too."

Ami stopped what she was doing and snapped her head up to stare at Minako. Clearly she had disregarded that factor.

"She got really violent then too. She brought her blade down into his shoulder and forced it down and nearly sliced the guy in half, I swear. Even with a two-handed blade…that's a lot of bone to shatter through for that."

Ami made a noise at that and sighed and leaned back. "I think it's best she avoids combat."

"I think it's best she avoids most things, no offense. Hopefully with all the rest, she'll feel better." Minako finally looked up at Ami and realized how tense she seemed to be. "What's eating you up, besides this?"

"What do you mean?"

"You look like you need to relieve some tension. You know, I heard that sleeping with someone—"

Ami shot Minako this look that shut her up really quickly. "Let me make it very clear. I'm not interested in sleeping with you or anyone else. Just Makoto."

"What!? I wasn't meaning me!"

"You said it the other day when you had Makoto thinking I was sleeping with others!"

"It was a joke! She shot at me and I knew that was forbidden! Besides, I'm not even interested in you! I'm interested in Rei—" Minako's eyes got wide as she put her hands over her mouth and turned a bright red. She had not just admitted that out loud to the one that was her least favorite.

Ami had just looked dumbfounded. "Rei."

"You had better not say a fucking word about this Ami, I swear."

"Rei doesn't do relationships. She never has. Has never had an interest in anyone and avoids them like the plague."

"What? Why?"

"Because of what happened with her parents. She can avoid that if she remains alone. If she dies, no one has to suffer like she did as a child."

"I'll just have to convince her otherwise, that's all. I think it would do her some good." Minako seemed to think on it and had a realization. "Wait, you mean to tell me…Rei has never fucked anyone?"

Ami turned red in the face at that particular phrasing. "No, she hasn't."

"How has she lived!? She has no idea what she's missing out on!" Minako was mortified. Having a partner created all kinds of sensations and pleasures that you couldn't provide alone.

"Minako, can we not talk about this? Makoto is unconscious and I haven't had the chance to sleep with her since before you arrived. I also need to get back to these tests. Don't you have to report back to Rei?"

"Only if you swear you're not going to tell her what I said."

"Fine. Deal. Now go."

Well wasn't she pushy? Minako gave in with a nod and finally left the room, groaning once she was outside and leaning against the door. Was she really that interested in Rei? Sure, the girl was good looking, but there was just something else about her that drew Minako in and she couldn't place what it was. It certainly wasn't the nice, appealing attitude because she didn't carry one of those. Maybe she just needed to learn more about her the next chance she got.

* * *

A much lighter chapter compared to the last one! So Minako has finally admitted she has the hots for Rei.

Things start to pick up again next chapter too! Enjoy!


	16. Day Seven

Any other day, Rei would have been willing to get up and suffer through whatever pain she was feeling, but today was not that day. She had been patiently waiting for Ami to return to her room to checkout her shoulder and give her a merciful painkiller. Her eyes trailed over to Minako asleep on the floor against the wall. She had been told by Ami to remain on watch over Rei just in case anything happened, but god did it look uncomfortable on the floor. Never mind her arm in the sling as well.

Rei would have offered to share her bed, but Ami had declared she needed no one else on her bed. There was too much risk of hitting her injured shoulder. Apparently not being able to feel your arm was a pretty big problem as it turned out. Ami turned her arm every which way to check for injuries that may have been present that she couldn't feel. That had also been incredibly painful, but Rei was too stubborn to say anything, but the look Minako gave her showed that she knew.

"Shouldn't you be asleep?"

Rei blinked and realized Ami was leaning above her.

"…It hurts too much."

Ami sighed and shook her head. "Why didn't you send Minako to get something?"

"She hasn't slept. And what was I supposed to do, walk over and shake her awake?"

"Can you feel your arm yet?"

"I can feel my shoulder fucking hurts. But no, not my arm."

"Sit up?"

With Ami's help, Rei was able to sit up, though she was sure she was going to vomit at suddenly being vertical and instantly her shoulder throbbed even more. Her arm fell to her side and she didn't dare move it. The blanket she kept over her to keep her body warm and covered fell into her lap. Minako had been kind enough to braid her hair to keep it from sticking to the blood that could leak out.

Rei's mind had been wracking over the past week and a half of her life and how it had gone from such a simple life to something so complicated all of a sudden. Ever since Minako's arrival in her life, it had been total hell and chaos. First was the Navy turning against their commander, which had cost Rei some injuries, including the initial one to her left shoulder. If Minako had just been a damn pirate, she wouldn't have shoved her out of the way and would have left her for dead to sink with the rest of the ship.

Next was the incident down at the port, where some random guy had picked a fight with her. The man said he was working for someone named Jadeite, but the name wasn't one that Rei had recognized, even with her Father's Navy influence early in her life. Something had gone wrong in that fight in more than one way, but all of it was a giant black gap in Rei's life since she was apparently caught in some explosion she should have never survived to begin with. That was followed by her promptly assaulting Minako at some point and time as well, which Rei did feel guilty for though she realized she had never actually apologized for it.

Then the entire thing going down with Makoto on her ship was its own qualification. She apparently had a space out period too, though her's was a conscious one. Rei had been less fortunate. Then Makoto had actually assaulted and insulted Ami and Rei had to resort to an actual fist fight like a child just to resolve the problem. They had to keep Makoto under a close watch and she had been banned from any form of combat, including sparring.

"Ami?"

"Yes? Is it hurting?"

"Constantly, but that's not what I wanted to ask. Does the name Jadeite sound familiar to you?"

"General Jadeite?"

Rei instantly turned to look at her, though Ami shoved her right back where she was with a huff. "Who is he?"

"General Jadeite was one of the four General's of the ocean ruled under the power of a Queen who claimed to own the sea herself. He was considered the weakest though he was still known for being quite tactical and was very good at scouting out his opponents. It was believed, during the time, that no one was allowed to travel on the sea without permission from the Queen. You had to have a qualifying reason for it and a pass that was posted to the side of the ship to travel."

"What happened?"

"As the story—"

"STORY?"

"Well…yes. This is all a story. There's no actual existing evidence any of it occurred. Can you imagine four people on their own ships keeping people off the entire ocean?"

"Ugh..forget I asked."

"Really? Why did you ask?"

"At the port, the guy that incited the fight said he was working for Jadeite. But I must have misheard or it's just someone with the same name. You said it's a story and even if it were real, sounds like it was way too long ago to be an actual existing person. Or just a coincidence on the name." Rei sighed and looked down at her lap as Ami worked.

"It looks like it'll heal fine. You'll have a scar from it, but I think it's stopped bleeding finally. I still want to put you arm in a sling for a few days just to be on the safe side. I think there's still a chance of it opening, even with the stitches."

"And if I have to fight?"

"I trust in your one-handed skills. Much like Minako."

"Minako?"

"She asked the same thing and I gave her the same answer. Both of you wield one handed blades so you don't actually require both hands. Plus I know you have quick movements and can analyze an opponent well enough to fight this way." Ami leaned back, passing Rei a shirt before helping her put it on.

"Speaking of her. You two need to start getting along. Don't roll your eyes at me. If she's on the ship, then teamwork is going to be vital. I get that she was trying to take charge, but I already gave her an earful on that one too. Whatever it is you two have going on against each other, stop it." Rei turned to look at her, making sure she understood and getting a nod in response. "Good. I'd hate to make you both scrub the entire ship down. It's already been two weeks since Makoto had to clean it."

"I still don't think that was fair…" Ami grumbled and leaned back.

"Well she brought it upon herself for cracking so many wise jokes on my behalf."

"She was just trying to make me laugh!"

"And you laughed. And she laughed. And my ship got cleaned. I think we all won here."

Rei smiled a little at Ami's pout before the pain shot back through her shoulder and she hissed. "Painkiller?"

"I can give you a shot if you want…"

"Do I want to ask if it's out of the medical kit or your kit?"

"Mine. This one won't be experimental, I swear. It'll ease the pain off faster than a pill will and you won't have to taste anything. You'll be just as drowsy from it."

"Anything that won't make me sleepy?" Rei hated to sleep the day away, unaware of anything going on or heaven forbid should something else go wrong on her ship.

"It wouldn't get rid of the pain."

Sighing, Rei nodded and gave into the shot. The pain had been intense for the past hour and having Ami messing with only made the situation feel worse than it probably was.

"Alright, get some more rest. I'm going to check in on Mako."

"How was she, when she woke up?"

"Better. She looked better too, which is good. Still going to keep a close eye though.."

"Thank you, Ami." Rei smiled at her and laid back on the bed with a sigh, letting the medicine take over and dozing off a few minutes later.

* * *

When Makoto had woken up, she had felt a million times better. The only catch was she had a cough, but Ami had chalked it up to a small cold she caught from not sleeping properly combined with stress. Regardless, she was glad to be moving around without the urge to slam things, punch someone, or shatter glass every two seconds. It also meant she felt right back at home cooking on the ship.

After washing her hands for the sixth time that hour because she had coughed, she moved to continuing making some more bread. It was a new idea she wanted to try out she had found in one of the books in Ami's library. A sweeter type of bread that might work better as a dessert was her initial thought until she realized adding some cinnamon would make it a great breakfast food. All she had to do then was soak it and cook it in the pan.

As she turned to the counter, she braced herself against it, closing her eyes. Okay so maybe that so called great feeling had been slowly wearing off throughout the day, but she was pretty sure it was because of the medicine Ami had given her. It had been abnormally strong for a dose, even at Makoto's height and size. And fuck it all, another urge to cough.

Except when she pulled her hand back this time, it had splotches of red and she felt the room suddenly spin at that sight and her stomach tighten with nausea. She swung to call for Ami, sending the bowl with the flour in it crashing into the ground when her elbow smacked into and when she knelt down to try and clean it up in her panic, she coughed harder, this time more blood coming up.

Suddenly it was like she couldn't breath and she shut her eyes as black spots blotched her vision. The last thing she heard before she blacked out and collapsed was a gasp of her name from Ami's mouth that sounded so terrified. It was nothing but darkness after.

* * *

ooooh what a cliff hanger! Sorry for the delay on this chapter, I'm dealing with some IRL stuff. We have one more smaller chapter before things get REALLY serious again.

How many connections have you made so far? I've heard a few theories that are pretty nice and interesting. Though I'll never admit how right or wrong they are.

See you in CHP 17!

P.S. Thanks Drifter and PD for reading my anguish.


	17. Rumors and Dumb Suggestions

Minako had jolted awake at the sound of something crashing to the ground and looked around Rei's room, trying to figure out what the hell happened. Rei wasn't covered up by the blanket and she had a shirt on which meant Ami had been here and left. Damn it's a good thing it wasn't someone trying to kill her at least. She groaned a little at her disrupted sleep and pulled herself up to her feet. Unusual sounds meant investigating, no matter how tired you were.

The next thing she heard was Ami yelling Makoto's name and that startled her awake and sent her running down the hallway. She stopped in the doorway to assess the situation and was met with Makoto face first on the ground, surrounded by glass and Ami frozen in place. What the fuck? She ran forward only to slip on the ground on god knows what and crashed hard into Ami, knocking her down to the ground.

She had to grimace at the pain through her shoulder and…was that her breath she was seeing? Why the hell was it so cold in the kitchen? They were no where near any cold areas and it was still too soon to be winter season for sure. Evidently, sending Ami crashing to the ground still hadn't broke whatever spell she seemed to be under.

"Ami!" Dear lord she even yelled into her ear and got no response. So she went with the only thing she could and flat out slapped her, which seemed to work.

"Makoto!" Ami was moving now, trying to move glass out of the way, not caring if her fingers seemed to get nick. Jesus Christ was Minako the only sane one on this ship today? She sat up and grabbed Ami's hands and stared her right in the face.

"You've got to calm down. You're going to wind up doing something reckless and make this situation far worse. Let's get her up off the ground and down to your room first. We can worry about all this glass after." Minako moved and took her sling off, setting it on the table before she stood up and waited for Ami to follow suit. The issue is that…well Makoto was a damn giant. Not only was she tall she had a fair bit of weight for her height too and that was problematic.

All complaints aside, they were able to lift Makoto up away from the glass, both relieved to see she hadn't been cut up by the glass and got her down the hall and onto a bed for Ami to inspect her. Minako watched quietly from the side, having no idea what had actually happened. However, it was concerning because Makoto wasn't responding to anything.

"I..I don't know what's wrong with her. She was fine before I went to look at Rei, just a cough. Then when I went to see what was for lunch I saw her cough and look at her hand and she…she panicked and knocked a bowl over before coughing again and she had coughed blood up. There's no reason for her to cough it up." Ami was clearly distraught over not knowing what was wrong.

"No reason for her to have TB, yeah?"

"Her tests came back clean for that the other day. Nothing showed up at all."

Minako made a small noise in the back of her throat as she thought. Things were very serious given the situation and nothing had been explained. Then it was like a light had clicked on. Being in the Navy, you heard all kinds of things and she had recalled someone talking about this condition before. A suddenly black out. Totally unresponsive. Some witch had come by and done some magic and the person was fine. The only problem with saying any of this is that she knew Ami was a very logical person. Well it was better than the current situation.

"Have you heard of the witch?"

"The witch?" Ami looked up at her like she was crazy. "Is this like your ghost ideas."

"To you, probably. But perhaps given current circumstances, you should give it a listen." That was quick to shut Ami up. "I've heard it told a time or two in the Navy. Or five. Anyways, it's like this. The person was found suddenly unconscious and totally unresponsive. Like they poked this guy REALLY hard and he wouldn't budge! He made for a great stacking—"

"Minako. Please."

"Oh, right. Sorry." Time was of course, important right now. "Anyways, they couldn't get him to wake up or anything and I guess it spread around and this woman showed up one day. She was apparently able to heal him and get him to respond without issue and she disappeared."

"So…you think this woman could fix Makoto up?"

"It's a theory."

"It's a real dumb one." Ami deadpanned this time. "Are you seriously going to believe that kind of story? Healing an unresponsive person with what, magic?"

"Probably. Hey, it's more than what you've got. Outside of that, I have an idea of where to find her!"

"Come again?"

"Yeah. Being in the Navy you get all kinds of stuff like this. Word is that she was captured and is being used for some evil shit. And I have an idea of where the ship she's on is at." Minako nodded like it was common knowledge as she leaned back against the wall carefully.

Ami let out a sigh and turned to look at Makoto, sitting at the edge of the bed carefully. She brushed a piece of hair out of her face and frowned. Hadn't they had enough suffering up until they got onto Rei's ship? Maybe Minako was a piece of bad luck. Maybe she could get her thrown overboard later if it solved everything. "And where is this ship? Who runs it."

"Guy named Jadeite."

Everything seemed to stop and Minako tilted her head as Ami slowly turned to stare at her. "Did you say General Jadeite?"

"Yep."

"As in the one on the port that was looking for Rei?"

"I didn't know he was looking for Rei. Usually Jadeite hunting for you is pretty nasty news. Even the Navy avoids the guy. I've had a run in with himself and it was ugly."

"What was it like?"

Minako hummed as she thought how to describe it before stopping and looking dead on serious. "He slaughters anyone and everyone he doesn't want his hands on. I lost seventeen men before we could pull away. His strength is something to fear and he knows how to use a sword to a very deadly degree. He's not above using cheap tricks to win either."

"But you weren't ordered to fight him, right?"

"I wasn't. His ship appeared out of no where and I went to inspect it and things got real fucked up quickly." Minako lifted her hair up and pointed to a scar on her neck. "He almost sliced me wide open and took my head off. If I hadn't had quick reflexes, I wouldn't be standing here today."

"And we're supposed to go after him, with four of us able to fight…really three and a half because Rei isn't going to be able to be full form. And he took out that many of your men?"

"I said I knew where it was. I never said it was smart to take him on by any means. If Makoto were conscious and able to fight I'd say sure we stand a chance. But I've also never seen you or Haruka really fight. Only Rei." Minako shrugged in response. She really could only offer this bit of advice and information about Jadeite himself. "There is one problem if we do take him out, though."

"Great. Another problem, because clearly we do not have enough of those!" Ami was irritated and tired of everything and just wanted one day on Rei's damn ship to go right for once this month.

"Well yeah. Jadeite isn't the ONLY general in his group. There's four total, but I don't know anything about the others or their names. Rumor has it take one out, incur the wrath of the other three."

"I…I'm sorry. You're basing all of this off a story, aren't you?"

"Story?" Minako tilted her head. "Not one I've heard of before. That's literally all I know. Jadeite has supposedly kidnapped someone to use against others, he has three other generals outside of him, and he's really deadly and sharp. Look, I get that you find it really fucking stupid, but I also don't really hear you giving any ideas."

"How about landing at a port and getting her to a certified doctor!" Ami finally snapped. She was far beyond done at this point as she stood up, voice raised to yelling for the first time since she left the Navy. "How about not following some stupid fucking story about a stupid witch! Makoto is at death's door and this is your idea!?"

Suddenly Minako stood up straight and her face took on the most serious look Ami had ever seen her have. "Do you realize the complications that come with landing at ANY port with a decent doctor located at it? The Navy is often there. Let's say we manage to ditch Makoto AND you there, we would be short two members and out at sea where it's clear Rei is already a target. Jadeite wants him and you said it yourself, she can't fight at full form. Well shit, neither can I right now. The ports are just as fucking stupid as anything else I've suggested. On top of that, I'm pretty sure you said Rei makes the calls on this ship, not you. So maybe it's better that you sit your happy little ass down before acting like you're high and mighty and all in control. You're nothing more than a damn little doctor on this ship."

Apparently Ami had yet to reach her snapping point up until then. She cocked her arm back and socked Minako right in her face, only Minako reacted quickly enough to dodge it, resulting in Ami hitting the wall instead, hissing hard in pain.

"I'm not here for a damn fight. I told Rei I would get along and I'm trying really hard here. I did not get a earful of her yelling and lectures for TWO hours over this for you to try and knock my lights out. Not that your punch would have given you haven't a clue how to ball your fist up right. You'll break your thumb like that." Minako took her hand, despite Ami making a noise of pain and corrected it. "Not only that, you need to punch someone at an angle, not straight on. Straight on could damage your wrist and an angle will cover more area and do more damage. That's why right hook's are always a good move."

Ami stared at Minako, trying to ignore her throbbing hand. Was she seriously giving her pointers on how to knock someone's lights out? Not that Ami was really a fighter. She was a sharpshooter. She dealt with battle from a distance, but perhaps with so much of the crew out or injured, she might wind up in a situation where hand to hand combat would be required.

"What in the hell is going on in here?" Rei was leaned against the door and both girls turned to look at her.

"Rei! Great, you're up! Listen, Makoto is out like a light but I got some really good idea!" Minako smiled as she walked over and filled her in on the entire situation with Jadeite. "So! He wants you so finding him will be SUPER easy, right?"

Rei could only stare at Minako before looking over at Ami, who was back at Makoto's bedside. "You want me to follow a rumor and a dumb suggestion?"

"Well what else have you got? Remember that area of the ocean I told you to avoid? Yeah that's where we need to go." Grinning, Minako cracked her knuckles. "I'm down for some revenge."

The truth of the matter was that Minako had taken the deaths of her crew very seriously and did want to revenge them. It had been back within her first few months of being a Navy commander. She had mislead them, though she hadn't admitted to that part out loud. That's how she knew where to find Jadeite out and intentionally avoided that part of the ocean entirely.

Sighing, Rei looked back at Ami again. "Can you aim well enough ship to ship right now?"

"…Yes. Assuming no one stumbles into my way on accident. I have enough rounds for 6 reloads per my guns."

"So 36 shots, but your rifle can take out several?"

"If they are so kind as to line up."

"Max 45 then let's say." Rei seemed to think on it for a moment. "I'm afraid we have no choice. This all started when his ass showed up at the port so maybe it's an answer. At the very least, as to why he's looking for me."

And with that, it seemed like the Flame Sniper crew was heading towards a death battle. Makoto was unconscious and unresponsive. Rei had only her right arm to use. Minako had limited right armed movement. Ami didn't do close combat. And Haruka was their only full fledged fighter. Minako decided that at the very least, they'd all die rather dramatically.

* * *

Sorry about the slight delay on this chapter! I wasn't 100% sure how it was going to go down. I actually usually only have loose ideas for chapters before I write them. Other things happen as I go along.

Chapter 18 is going to be ACTION PACKED. and Possibly 19 too depending on how I do 18.

Soon we figure out just what the hell is going on.


	18. I Have Total Control

If she was being completely and totally honest with herself, Minako was entirely uncomfortable with the idea of facing Jadeite again. She brought a hand up to the scar on her neck and swallowed hard. True she had been more inexperienced at that time, but he was scary. He knew how to swarm a ship quickly. Even with all her skills and knowledge and a smaller crew, Minako could not prepare them for the fight ahead.

She looked at the sling she had left on the table from where Makoto had collapsed. Rei had since abandoned hers too, explaining that if she came across looking hurt it would only be more detrimental to the entire teamwork. Minako could use her right arm if she had to, but Rei's left one was completely out of the question. Even using a pistol was a no go because of the kickback it would provide. Ami subtly noted that she could fix it to have less of that, but time was important.

When she glanced a look out the window, she saw the fog rolling in and knew it was time. It still gave her chills to see it and she pulled herself off the stool and up above deck where everyone else was. Haruka was to remain hidden just in case something went totally wrong until she could cross ships to get the so called witch off. If they were not aware of her they couldn't watch her location and hopefully it would make a quicker in and out situation. That left Minako, Rei, and Ami to fight. They were as good as dead.

"You sure it's here, Minako?" Rei looked down at her as the ship came to a stop. There was no wind, no current, nothing to propel their ship forward and it was eerie.

"Yes." As if on cue, a ship came out of the fog and straight for them, lining up beside them, but it was pure silence, as though no one was above the deck. Then in a blink of an eye, men were suddenly jumping onto Rei's ship.

"Fucking!" Rei drew her sword out and jumped down to the even deck.

"I told you they were quick and deadly!" Minako drew her own sword out and took a deep breath and a swallow. A glance around told her Jadeite was waiting to make his own appearance. Test one was to survive his men. "He'll show eventually, don't be reckless."

Then the sound of metal on metal began. Minako brought her sword up to deflect a swing at her face and kicked the man away and into another one. Time gave her no room for error as someone else was quick to replace him but this time she thrust right into his chest before he could fully bring his sword down. Then he was her human shield as she twisted around to prevent being stabbed in the back, the pirate instead stabbing the man already on her own sword. Another boot to him and her sword was free.

Behind her she heard Ami firing off the occasional shot, aiming for heads to keep the count down and then she glanced a look at Rei. She had only actually fought her once and had gotten a glance with the whole dickbag Ace appearing. Seeing her move so rapidly and sharply was startling. Ami wasn't kidding when she said Rei was excellent at analyzing a set of opponents very quickly.

Suddenly a sword was coming at her and she stumbled back and had to squint her eyes when something glinting. What the fuck? She looked that way and it took her a moment to spot it; Jadeite had a sniper on his ship and oh _fuck._ She grabbed the shirt of the guy in front of her and yanked him forward, grunting as his fist collided hard with her chest and knocked the air out of her. The good news was that he absorbed the shot. Minako brought her sword and slit his throat, letting him drop and watching the sniper again. Where was he aiming at?

Then two and two clicked and she whirled to Ami's location laying low on the higher deck and she took off running. That asshole was looking for Ami and was so close to finding her and she did not need one of their three members dead with a bullet in her head. If Makoto did happen to wake up, she'd kill everyone and everything.

Once she was up, she grabbed Ami and yanked her out of the way, getting a 'what the hell' in return before Ami saw the bullet rip right through the air was she was.

"Oh..Uhm. Thank you."

"He's in the cabin." Minako stood back up, glancing down at Ami before suddenly pitching forward with a pained noise, then down on one knee.

"Minako!" Ami moved to sit up but Minako motioned her to stay down. She needed the sniper to believe that Ami was dead right now. The switch blade sticking out of her back wasn't her concern. It was who had thrown it. Jadeite had decided they were worthy of his presence it seemed. Slowly she pulled herself up and stepped off the highest deck and back down to where Jadeite was applauding them. At the very least, his men had stopped.

"Well, well, well." Jadeite looked around at the playing field. "Fifteen of my men down like it was nothing." A pause, followed by a bang. "Sixteen. Your sniper is quite good, I must say."

"What the hell do you want?" Rei stopped forward, but Minako was thankful. She had her head ducked down and only kept Jadeite within her vision. She didn't need him to recognize her right now.

"Why, you of course. I was fairly sure my men at the port got that point across. Though it was a shame they failed. Took a very long time to get that ship and I had to send it to the bottom of the ocean."

 _Bang._

Except the bullet that was supposed to go through Jadeite's head didn't. His sword had come up and sliced it in two and it went beyond him, striking two of his men instead. Except instead of just dropping dead, they seemed to freeze in place and everyone just stared. Jadeite slowly turned around and walked up to one of them and tipped him over and the man shattered into pieces.

"..I see. So the infection managed to spread about."

"Infection?" Rei bristled at that and made a glance at Minako, but got no eye contact in return. She was still looking downwards.

"Well, yes. That's what the entire point of the port was." Jadeite started to walk towards Rei and she raised her sword up in defense. "You see, I intended to infect just you, but I was also aware I got the taller one in your group. I see she isn't present which means she was denied the power."

"What power?" Rei took a step back, wanting to create distance but also not wanting to seem as though she was uncomfortable with what was going on at that moment. Suddenly she darted forward and swung her sword hard, but Jadeite stepped away and an arc of fire followed the blade.

"That power." Then he was in her face and Minako watched Rei crumble hard to the ground and she moved to pull him away from an unconscious Rei that had no reason to be unconscious on the ground. She stopped cold in her tracks when Jadeite put his foot on Rei's chest and his sword at her throat.

"Why don't we all have a seat and a nice chat? You too, little miss sniper."


	19. Well Fuck

Aino Minako was sure that today was the day she was going to finally die and be put out of her misery. She could only wince as the ropes around her wrist that were tied behind her back were cinched a touch too tight. Thankfully they'd moved to Jadeite's ship given how incredibly awful it felt to be tied up on Rei's own ship. Ami let out a grunt as she was shoved down onto her knees beside Minako.

Ami was apparently just as ashamed as Minako was, though Minako was impressed with the girl's ability to aim a deadly shot. Never mind her hand to hand combat, a gun was all she needed to possess. The ice thing was unexpected. Neat though. Still though, Minako had to keep her head tilted down to avoid seeing Jadeite's face. Even though she was absolutely positive today was the day she died, she didn't want to be first.

Okay that was a pretty guilty thought, she realized. That meant she wanted Ami hit first and that wasn't really fair to the poor girl who was along for this really awful ride. Unfortunately, when Minako was around things never went quite right. She had to clench her teeth hard at that thought, mulling over her life up until this very point.

Her childhood had been normal enough. She lived with her mother and her father out on the edge of the main city and had been provided much love and care. She had an education, friends, everything. Her plans were to work for the courts initially, until the faithful day arrived and she was called up to see Queen Serenity herself. In person. Out of the blue. Not her parents. Her, at the age of fifteen.

It was extremely nerve wracking, walking up to the palace. The place was clean, pristine, it was the purest white she had ever known or seen in her life time and since then still had yet to see anything to match its purity or décor. She was lead down the halls by a tall woman with long hair that carried a staff with her at all times after presenting the letter to the front gates.

And if she thought the palace was so bright it hurt? It paled in comparison to the room that the Queen sat in to meet anyone. Minako recalled her stomach churning as she was one on one with the Queen herself. Not many people got this chance in life and she was mortified she had done something she shouldn't have in her life time and was about to pay the ultimate price.

Of course, the order had been given then and there. She was to join the Navy whether she liked it or Queen had called it fate for her to do so and god she hated the word fate for years after that. After stating what she wanted Minako to do, she lightly touched her on the shoulder and Minako could have sworn to hell and heaven she had just been purified like a baptized baby.

Sadly the next years were total hell. Being young in the Navy was hard enough, but to be a female was even worse. None of the men dared show her combat or how to use a gun. She had sliced her hand open once holding a sword wrong and had it bounce back at her, slicing her free hand open. Then learning to shoot a gun without being mortified every time you pulled the trigger and a loud bang was the result took half a year.

As she ranked up, she had to do more fights. The Navy didn't really care how much the men beat the shit out of her. If she couldn't hold her own, then too fucking bad as it turned out. So she got smart. She learned to curl into herself, how to duck down and jab ribs, how to throw a punch to knock someone, a roundhouse kick to create distance. She was a deadly hand to hand combat fighter, more so than with her own sword and gun.

Eventually it got her up to having her own ship, being a commander of the Navy and smack dab right on General Jadeite's ship, moments away from having her head lopped right on off. If this was the fate the Queen was talking about, well then she had a royal fuck you and she was going to haunt the woman as a ghost for all of eternity. If the Queen became a ghost, she'd haunt that ghost. Her eyes snapped up momentarily as Jadeite approached Ami and her stomach clenched in nausea and concern. Ami had no idea what to expect.

"You're a scary good shot, you know?" Jadeite smiled down at her and got a placid look in return. "That ice thing, pretty cool, I must say. Real shame you don't work out either. I guess your body temperature dipped low enough to freeze the pathogen and let your body destroy it. One advantage is keeping the powers, the other is that I have to kill you still. It'll be just as painful, I promise you that. You saw your friend, yeah? She collapsed I take it? Blood spewing out from her body?"

Ami bristled hard at that one and glared up at him. She wouldn't let him have his way and rile her up anymore than he already was.

"Yeah it's a deadly killer. It starts to shut down organ after organ pretty fast. Usually within two or three days you're dead. Unconscious in one or two." He shrugged as he looked down at her and sighed when he got nothing out of her. "You're absolutely no fun." He lifted his boot and delivered a powerful kick right into Ami's solar plexus.

All she could do was gasp in pain and within ten seconds she couldn't breath and fell backwards, trying to get air back into her lungs desperately. The moment it started however, Jadeite walked up beside her and slammed his foot hard onto her chest, resulting in a wheezing sound and a gasp jammed up into one. She couldn't get air in with his foot putting pressure down holy _fuck_ she was sure two ribs just cracked.

"I told you it was going to be painful for you."

Minako suddenly moved her legs out from under her, a mistake in not tying those up, kicked her leg out and sent Jadeite right down onto his ass at the unexpected sweep into his leg. Ami let took in a gasping breath and rolled to her side, immediately vomiting from the pain and hit to her solar plexus, trying to get a normal airflow in and the tears in her eyes to stop. How in the hell did Minako manage to keep going with a knife in her back, a shoulder injury, and god knows what else?

"You bitch." Jadeite stood up and grabbed Minako's jaw roughly, stopping when he saw her face glaring back at him. "You. I remember you." He had to laugh. He couldn't help it. "You're the dumb bitch that I let get away that one time after I took out over half your crew! Should have just killed you then I guess."

"Fuck you."

Well it was more of a response than Ami gave.

"Ah it's a shame, you know…that you can't be infected."

"…What?" Okay that made zero sense. Jadeite had said the others COULD be infected, but they would be denied. Why the hell was she so special.

"You came into contact, direct contact, with the Queen. She gave you this damn barrier so we can't infect you. The moment it hits your bloodstream it's gone just as fast. You'd have made a great help to the team with your unconscious friend over there." He jerked his head towards Rei. "But alas, all good things come to an end and today is yours. I'll let you go first then go back to kicking the hell out of your little blue haired friend there."

Jadeite reached around Minako and she tried to squirm away, but he had a firm hold on her shoulder before ripping the knife out of her back. She saw Ami's eyes widen as it was serrated and she prided herself in not bending over in pain, only panting heavily. God everything hurt right about now and she just wanted a lot of liquor and a lot of sleep. Some cuddling might be pretty nice too.

"Ill make sure to go through the front of your throat this time, instead of the side." Jadeite drew his arm back and Minako closed her eyes and braced for the sharp pain to come with a taste of blood, but it didn't. Instead she was met with an intense heat and when she opened her eyes, Rei had knocked him over.

Except…Rei was literally a walking fireball. She was on fire. Minako paused for two seconds to question if she even had eyebrows with how close she got until Rei turned to look at her…that wasn't a friendly look. Apparently whatever Jadeite had done to take her down had also flipped that damn pathogen switch and Rei was out to kill.

"Give me a fucking break for once in my life." When Rei came at her, she rolled backwards and stumbled up onto her feet. At least with the fire, they weren't on Rei's ship. Flame Sniper didn't need to become literal, but it also meant that Jadeite's ship was starting to catch fire. Suddenly a fireball was lobbed her her head and she ducked down. "Can't a girl get a break for just ONE damn day!?" Now she had to worry about a fireball hurdling towards Rei's ship and fuck.

Fuck it all. She glanced down at Ami. "Ami, try and untie yourself and please for the love of whatever deity or science god you believe in, stop her." The moment Rei went for Ami, Minako stepped into her view. Minako had zero use of her hands and this was all a dodging game. Only fire was involved. And her life. And Ami's. And Makoto's. Yeah. She needed a whole bottle of liquor after today was done, if she managed to live.

"Silver linings, Minako. You always find them, don't you." She mumbled to herself side stepping Rei and bringing her leg up to kick her hard in the ribs, wincing at the resounding crack. That didn't really seem to stop Rei, however as she just turned and charged once more, fireball in hand. Well it was take this hit, or lose their ship and she clenched her teeth. This was going to probably hurt more than what Ami had endured and she braced hard for the hit.

Only the fireball suddenly extinguished and Rei crumbled down to the ground with Ami standing behind her, though one of her hands was cut open and dripping with blood. Minako assumed she had cut it open when trying to get free. Minako's next concern was all of the men Jadeite had, but when she whirled around, they were on the ground with Haruka swinging blood off her sword and someone with Aquamarine hair standing behind her looking worse for the wear.

Everything had stopped. There was no immediate danger. Minako's legs finally gave out and she hit the deck of the ship with a solid thud before there was nothing but silence. Her body was completely done with her.

* * *

Things are suddenly VERY real for our girls! Makes you wonder what Haruka was up to, doesn't it?


	20. Chapter 20

So I'm sure you guys are going "where are the High Tension updates? You said soon!"

And I did. But you see, when I was writing this, it was my first thing I had written. And my style has expanded and changed and reading it back over...I have corrections to make. So I'll be making a NEW High Tension story and this one will remain as is. I'll have it as Old High Tension. The new one will be just High Tension if you want to continue to follow it.

Chapter 1 will be posted soon after this update launches. It's MOSTLY the same, but with some things removed and more content filled in. About a 389 word change in total. As I get them repaired, I'll be posting them one by one.

I appreciate your patience with this!


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